If It Were A Perfect World
by Jaro-ship
Summary: The Moroi world if Dimitri hadn't died at the end of the Shadow Kiss. A little on the OOC side, SK spoilers, all that fun jazz. Have fun! FINISHED.
1. Chapter 1

**My life has been too hectic to focus on my FanFics, and the idea for this is bound to become more popular later on down the road....Anyway, I'm going to focus on this one story, and maybe a Twilight one, too, but that's still up in the air. So, here it goes, a new slate for me, my first (going to be completed) Vampire Academy FanFic.**

**DISCLAIMER: Richelle Mead owns the rocking VA series and its awesome characters.**

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"Rose, you okay?" Lissa asked me for the umpteenth time, snapping her fingers in front of my face. I cleared the fogginess building up in my focus and took in my surroundings.

It was lunch. We were in the cafeteria. Christian was walking towards us, tray in hand; Lissa was chattering on about the upcoming school dance, which she had stressed that nobody outside of the school was allowed to come several times, I think.

I mentally kicked myself. I was not paying as much attention to my current situation as I should've. I was to busy worrying about Dimitri again. It took so much out of me to just go through the day for him. I so desperately wanted to be by his side in the Clinic right at this very moment, but there was no way in hell I could do that while trying to keep the fact that I had feelings for him under the radar.

All of this went through my head in the two seconds it took Christian to sit down next to Lissa and kiss her neck sweetly; it took all of my control not to vomit. Lissa repeated her question.

"Yeah, totally fine," I lied, poking at my salad.

"No you're not, Rose. What's up with you? You keep zoning out and being anti-social." Damn Christian. Ever since the massive Strigoi attack two weeks ago, he'd been more in tune with my feelings.

"I'm just..." I trailed off. What could be the harm in telling them almost everything about Dimitri and me?

Oh, yeah, that big huge thing called getting reassigned.

Christian looked at me, and proverbially waved his hand for me to continue. A half-lie wouldn't be so bad, would it?

"I'm just..." I sighed. "I'm just worried about Dimitri. He hasn't been getting better, and he should," I said quietly, avoiding Christian's regarding gaze. He grunted in response my response. I looked up quickly at Lissa. She looked like she was trying to figure out a complex math problem she didn't know the formula for. That shot down my self-control. I got up and put up my tray. I walked back to the table and grabbed my bag and jacket.

"I've gotta go study for a test," I said feebly, trying extremely hard not to shift feet. I walked away without waiting for their response. I could feel both of them staring at my back as I quickly left the cafeteria.

I had to go see him, even though I'd used up my visits for the week, something I had started with myself to keep myself sane. Two visits a week, one on Monday and one on Thursday. Too bad today was Friday. I still had most of the lunch hour left, so I was fine.

I stepped into the med clinic and quickly shut the door behind me, trying to keep the cold out. One of the nurses at the front desk just looked up and smiled at me, fully knowing who I was there to see.

Okay, so maybe this wasn't the first time I had broken my personal rule.

Sadly, it wasn't. It was the fifth, to be exact. Others thought I was just worried about the others I knew in here. To be honest, I saw them once, and that was when they were all doped up on drugs to keep them out of it. So, technically, in my book, it didn't count.

I was worried; Dimitri was naturally unconscious, and had been for the past 2 weeks. Dr. Olendzki told me not to worry.

"Sometimes, some people who've gone through such a traumatic experience, such as Dimitri has done, fall into a coma-like state for a while to allow the body heal naturally. The best we can do is wait," She had told me, the third time I was in there. I just shook my head, and stared down at my mentor.

I cringed at the memory as I picked my way around the hospital beds to the back of the med clinic. I paused in front of Dimitri's room (he got his own for being in his "coma-like state"), hand on the doorknob. I took a deep breath and steeled myself for him to be out of it. I turned the doorknob, and then surprise took over.

Dimitri was sitting up, muttering in Russian as the make-shift, black and white TV set refused to cooperate. I choked back a cry and closed the door behind me. His eyes immeadiately shot up and met mine, lighting up immensely.

"Roza," He said, like it was a relief to say it once again. Biting my lower lip, I dropped my bag next to his bed and hugged him. He let out a little groan when I hugged him just a little too hard, an then dropped into a chair that I had dragged over two weeks ago and labeled mine (no joke, I even put a sign on it).

He kept my hand in his, and I lost it. I cried. I cried probably more than I've ever cried in my life. More than Mason's funeral, and I got a nice little waterfall going after a while.

"Roza, Roza, it's okay," He murmured to me, and I dragged the chair closer with my feet. After a few minutes, I dried up and leaned against his arm. Comfortable silence followed, something I had missed since I couldn't stand being quiet with Christian - he made me feel like he was staring at me if I wasn't talking - and Lissa had this tendency to talk for hours. I really didn't hang out with anyone else besides Eddie, but he got out of the med clinic a day ago.

He broke the silence. "How have you been, Rose?" I sighed internally as I realized how much I missed the slight Russian accent.

"Worried sick about you, but other than that, fine," I admitted. There was something about Dimitri that made me sick to my stomach if I even thought about lying to him. I guess it started happening after my "I'm-seeing-ghosts" confession to Dr. Olendzki of people, and then Dimitri confronted me about it. He silently stroked my hair. At this point, we weren't really concerned with someone walking in on us.

"You shouldn't have been." His hand paused, and tightened for a second, then let go of my hair. The stroking continued.

"Too bad for you," I joked, smiling. I could feel his smile.

"What's been going on since the attack?" Dimitri inquired, his hand moving down to my neck to massage it.

"Nothing much. The Academy's waiting for more people to get out of here until they hold the group funeral. Everyone's been on edge, and Kirova's been doubling up security, even on the lower campus. Lissa's been more afraid that Christian has been traumatized or something from killing so many Strigoi, than if anybody she knew is dead or seriously injured. Otherwise, life's going on without you," I told him, sitting next to him on his bed. The hand moved to my back, fingers absent-mindedly running up and down as he contemplated what I shared.

"And you're eighteen," Dimitri recalled, staring off into space. I nodded, pleased hat he still remembered. It was the day after the major Strigoi attack, and he apparently realized the fact that it had been more than a day.

"So what's been up with you? I mean, I know you've been knocked out for two weeks, but people in that condition must dream or something..." I asked, trailing off at the end. His hand paused for a second at the mention of it being two weeks but only for a second. He let out a dark chuckle.

"Yes, I have been dreaming. Very few and short dreams, but I had them," He confided, his hand snaking to my shoulder to give me an awkward one-armed hug. "Most of them were about you and our future together. I had two, I think, of my family." His voice broke off at the end, and I slid down to throw my arm around him in an embrace.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly, laying my head on his chest.

"You don't have to be. It's my fault for not seeing them as much as my mother made me promise when I first came here to America."

"You promised your mom you would see her, even after you moved here?" I asked, totally curious.

"Yeah," Dimitri said casually. "Вы должны пообещать что вы будете навещать я и ваши сестры часто, Dimka, о'кей?" He shook his head as he spoke what I assumed to be what his mother said to him in Russian.

I lost myself in the blissful moment. It was perfect; not how I expected it to turn out, especially with the condition Dimitri was in, but it was definitely perfect in its own way. I twisted and stared up at the man that forbiddingly held my heart. He looked back down at me, and I would bet my life he was thinking about what had happened the night before the Attack.

He smiled and kissed my forehead sweetly. I sighed and wiggled up to put my head right above his shoulder. We lapsed back into silence. I felt like screaming with joy on the inside, ironically enough, but the perfect silence would work for me, too. His hand found its way back into my hair. The fingers twisted themselves delicately and rested against the back of my head.

Then I broke. I had told myself not until after I graduated, but the resistance was so easy to break down.

I leaned up and kissed him. He kissed back, just as eager as me, and the hand in my hair tightened to a hurt that I didn't seem to notice. In fact, I didn't notice anything. Which was why we didn't hear the door open. Somebody cleared their throat. I broke away and looked at the new visitor with utter horror. It was my mother.

"Rosemarie Hathaway, you have some major explaining to do."

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**If you're wondering, the Russian Dimitri recited earlier was "You have to promise me that you will visit me and your sister often, Dimitri, okay?" Thank you Google Translator!**

**Anyway, here's how the chapter-and-reviews thing works. The more reviews I get, the faster I get out chapters. That's all I'll say for now, considering I don't want to sound like I'm begging. I love reviews, but it's not the reason I write (then again, you can go ahead and press that big green button if you like).**

**Also, I've been waiting to do a story like this since I finished Shadow Kiss about five weeks ago, so I can promise it'll be good....Traveling, Scandals, A LOT of DxR and CxL, everything you find in the books, and then some extra stuff thrown on top that will be good. I've got big plans. *scheming smiles***

**That big green button is calling your name!! Go press it!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Oh. My. Carlisle. You guys ROCK.**

**36 reviews! That's the most I've ever gotten total - and I just took down four stories. I opened up my email yesterday and was bombarded. I just finished replying to most of the reviews; there are some shout-outs are at the bottom for those of you who didn't get a reply. That'll be your reply, lol. :) Anyway, I'm so happy because I got over 150 hits since Wednesday!! Keep those reviews coming, it means faster updates. xD**

**_I have a proposition_****_:_**** For you crazy Twilight fans reading this (I do happen to be a major Twilighter, FYI), I'm starting a little contest/game. Every chapter, starting with this one, there'll be a Twilight reference. Some will be easy, others you'll read through and go "Okay....So where is it?". You have to pick it out. Those who get it right get a shout-out in the top AN (like, right here). Also a nice little ploy on my part to get more reviews (SSSHHH you never heard that!).**

**A lifetime of gratitude and servitude to Five For Fighting and The Veronicas for keeping my writing juices flowing.**

**DISCLAIMER: Richelle Mead owns the rocking VA series and its awesome characters.**

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I never knew Janine Hathaway to have such a vice-like grip, but then again, when it came to badass guardians, she ranked high. I couldn't keep my feet moving fast enough with my mother's; I was practically being dragged to where ever she was leading me to. Eventually, the administration building came into view, and suddenly it hit me. Crap. Kirova would know about this.

I shouldn't have been too surprised about this. I should've expected it. I should've seen it coming. But it didn't; I was too focused on much I had missed Dimitri's lips on mine and how I was going to get out of this.

Contemplating on how to get out of this, I sat in a chair diagonally set to the right of Kirova's desk and massaged my upper arm. I could feel where her barely-long nails had dug into my skin with unnecessary brutal force. I watched my mother whisper to Kirova, who stared at me in shock; Kirova called some people, and then went back to staring at me. Alberta showed up, and not even knowing the story, shook her head sadly at me. Stan Alto (what the hell was he doing here?) rolled his eyes and muttered something about "to be expected, coming from Rose" after he got the dirt. Eventually, Alberta and Kirova got into a heated whispered argument over something, while the whole time, kept stealing glances in my general direction. Eventually, whatever it was that they were fighting about was resolved and Alberta looked smug.

Dimitri showed up, IV, wheelchair and all. Dr. Olendzki looked ticked about something - I assumed it to be the fact that she had to move Dimitri so early after he'd come to. He was placed on the other side of the room, and I looked over at him, suddenly realizing just how serious this was, how small he looked, and how nervous he was, amongst other things. He looked up long enough to flash a sad, scared grimace/smile at me; his face was blank, but his eyes spoke a million words behind the frenzy. Alberta moved behind Dimitri and let Kirova at me.

"So, Miss Hathaway, would you like to please explain just exactly happened in the infirmary?" Kirova asked me, staring me down, intent upon giving me the harshest punishment possible.

"Impulse," I white lied quickly.

"'Impulse,'" The old hag echoed. "Just like you so-called 'attack' on Dimitri the night of Miss Dragomir's kidnapping was based on impulse, too? Or was there more, more that you don't care to share with us?" Stan snorted, and the blackness that I feared so much came creeping inside, lingering on the edges waiting to get me. I clenched my hands into fists and stared back, not answering. "I guess it was, then. Is this true, Miss Hathaway?"

Slowly, I nodded, not looking at my mother. I'd have enough grief to deal with later. I also had the nagging suspicion that this was going to leak to my classmates, and then to the Moroi...Which was when Lissa's reaction to this suddenly grabbed me by a force I couldn't have seen coming. I grabbed the armrest of the chair and tried to push the threatening darkness away.

"Why?" Kirova asked, and the darkness went in for the kill.

"Why?!" I yelled. "Do you seriously have to ask that?!"

"Miss Hathaway, you are out of line," Kirova reprimanded.

"OUT OF LINE?!" I shrieked, absolutely furious; somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew I was being unrealistic, but the darkness quickly swallowed it in one bite.

"Exactly that. Janine, your daughter?" Kirova sat tiredly down in her seat.

"So what, you're going to pass along control over to my mother?_ Hello_? I'm 18 here! I don't need "my mother to calm me down" anymore!" I shouted, throwing my arm in her general direction. The room sat in silence, taking in my words and trying to figure out what to do with them. Dimitri spoke one word, and the darkness cowardly started crawling back to its hiding spots.

"Rose."

I immeadiately calmed down. I dropped to my seat, putting my head in my hands and starting shaking it, wanting the bad feelings to go away. It was starting to get to be too much for me. I almost started crying at how it was affecting my schoolwork and concentration. Kirova didn't notice my change.

"So her forbidden lover can calm her down? This is too far down the line," Kirova said sarcastically.

"I'm not her lover," Dimitri said quietly, not really looking at me. I drew my knees up to my chest, resting my heels on the edge of the chair, and started slightly rocking back and forth like those possessed people in horror movies. I bit my lower lip.

Janine came and kneeled in front of me. "Look, Rose, I know this is hard on you, considering you're barely 18, and so you're thinking is still that of a teenager, but you have got to see, realize and comprehend how this is wrong. You have to." In any other situation, what she said, combined with her outrageous Scottish accent, would've been absolutely hilarious; I wasn't exactly in the mood for laughing just then.

"But I do. _We_ do." I looked over at Dimitri's bent head, sadness washing over me at his sad expression in his eyes as he flicked them towards me for a second. My voice got really quiet. "We've talked about it, we've figured out how we're going to work it all out later after I graduate. He even stopped our relationship from forming in the beginning because of the age difference." I saw Janine strain t hear my voice in my peripheral vision, but I didn't care.

"Did you?" Kirova looked over to Dimitri for confirmation. His slow nod spoke a million words. "Rose, you could you take Dimitri out into the hallway so we can all discuss this?" Kirova asked me. I gave a half-heartedly shrug/nod combination and wheeled him out into the hallway. I closed the door, and everyone else erupted into shouts. I locked Dimitri's wheelchair and mumbled something about "being right back".

I crossed over into the bathroom and locked myself in a stall. I leaned against the cold door and let the crying take over. I think at some point I banged my fist on the door, but the memory is pretty hazy. Trying to see through the onslaught of tears is hard to do. After a while, I dried up and unlocked the door. I caught my reflection in the mirror.

_You look like hell_, I told myself. I nodded, agreeing with my inner voice. I groaned, realizing that I was now talking with myself. I flipped the water on, made sure it was ice cold, and splashed a ton of it onto my face. I kept doing it until my face was numb from the cold; each splash was like I was proverbially splashing away all my problems. Christian and Lissa, Dimitri and our relationship, my mother, Kirova, my failing school grades, the darkness I was getting from Lissa, everything.

Turning the water off, I looked up at my dripping face. It was red from the low temperature, but I felt a little better. I attempted at a smile; it was darker than I expected, but it didn't frighten me. Not a lot scared me anymore.

I walked back out to find the yells gone, my mom standing next to the spot Dimitri was just in, and Dimitri (being wheeled by Dr. Olendzki) disappearing down the hall. I could feel the need to tap her foot radiate off of Janine.

"What? Here to yell at me and tell me how much of an idiot I am?" I asked, not really interested in what she had to say. I was washed out and could care less about anything but my bed, despite dinner being in an hour.

"No, actually, there's a lot to say. Let's take a walk." Janine also sounded like she didn't care if I agreed or not.

"Fine," I muttered, keeping pace with her. We exited the building, and took the path that would lead behind my dorm, and then wrap around the Moroi dorms.

"So what did Kirova use as punishment for me this time? Expulsion?" I asked.

"Probation. Headmistress Kirova gave you and Dimitri a probation on your relationship."

"Which means...?" I asked, trailing off, confused.

"That you two can act like a couple with keeping your limits and that Alberta will be supervising your training sessions so that nothing that shouldn't happen doesn't." My mother was obviously agitated for going so slow, but she did her best to hide it from me.

"Limits? Nothing that shouldn't happen?" I again asked, still confused.

"As in, nothing past hugging is allowed. Alberta will be watching the two of you where ever you go, and if you both sneak off without her knowing, there will be hell to pay. Got it now?" My mom asked me. I nodded. On the inside, though, I was completely ecstatic. Now holding hands wouldn't have to be something we did in secret.

"Does Dimitri know this?" Janine nodded at the question, stopping in her tracks. "What?" I demanded; I really just wanted a long sleep for tomorrow, and she was stalling that.

"The 'lover' comment. Was that a lie, too?" Janine questioned, looking up at me. I swallowed and muttered an agreement. I wasn't the only Rose in my situation of most likely ending up childless.

"Damn it, Rose, really? This changes everything," She muttered, going back in the direction she came. I grabbed her arm, and something in my voice made her give up.

"Please, Mom. Don't. I already have enough on my mind right now, I don't need to know the fact that Kirova knows more about my love life than I want her to."

"Alright, but she will eventually have to know." Janine gave me a look that was a cross between a glare and something near condescending.

"So, why are you here in the first place?" I asked, intently curious. It had been bugging me since she dragged me to Kirova's in the first place.

"I've been reassigned to the Academy since the threats against another attack on the Academy have mounted extraordinarily high. We've set up a headquarters base on the Court grounds, for guardians only. They rest are...anxious for Dimitri to recover soon," Janine explained, walking back towards my dorm.

"You mean another Strigoi attack?" I asked stupidly. My mom looked out across the grounds, watching all the Moroi and dhampirs rushing off towards the cafeteria for dinner, and then slowly nodded.

I turned and watched what my mother was watching. I saw Lissa, fingers intertwined with Christian's, glance over at me, with Adrian pulling her shoulder, also staring at me. Christian gave me a a quick look, but turned forward and pulled Liss along. I wondered what my mother was seeing.

Was she seeing my two friends, two crazy teenagers that have been through a lot more than they should've with a drunken 24-year-old chaperone?

Or was she seeing my two friends, both 18 like me, full adults who've experienced more than most guardians on the job and a mysterious drunk who seems to have a magical interest in Lissa?

Was it a mixture of both?

I watched them disappear with the crowd through the doors of the cafeteria, trying to figure it out. It would be an awkward question on my part to ask, and possibly equally as awkward to answer for my mom. I didn't want to go there. We weren't in good terms with the whole Dimitri thing. I didn't need any confessionals just right now.

I looked around and saw my mother had disappeared. A hand clamped on my shoulder, and when I spun around to see who'd done, another hand clamped over my mouth. I staggered at who it was.

It was Eddie. And he looked like he wanted some answers, because if looks could kill, I would've been dead before his hand went over my mouth.

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**Another cliffie. Update for Chapter 3 will be much faster.  
I can honestly say that I had fun writing this chapter. Verbal fights that involve yelling are always loads of fun to write. Besides, I get really annoyed by most of the kids at my school, so it's good to have an outlet every once and a while!**

**Shout-outs:**

**RoseandDimitri: This is focusing on Rose, so there will be more DxR than CxL, but CxL won't be cut because I love writing Christian from Rose's POV...You'll see come the third chapter. Another reader gave me and idea for some MxA action to write about....**

**hagiandsayaforever: Rose and her chair labeling actually came from a fight my friends and I had at lunch with these annoying brats who'd taken our seats. It ended up with us kicking them out and putting paper signs on the seats making them ours. We got in trouble after a week, but it was fun while it lasted!!**

**Lucia Rayne: I was almost going to have the reason for Janine's visit in the third chapter, but decided to make this chapter longer, thanks to you!!**

**Dark fea: When I was first writing it, it was dragged out so much, I cut 65% of the original chapter. Imagine that.**

**That big green button is calling your name!! Go press it!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Update here! Won't say it, but....  
TOLD YOU SO. TOLD YOU I'D GET ANOTHER CHAPTER UP SOONER!!!! **

**Mind you, this at the time of typing, but iluvjasperhalemorethanedcullen threw out 3 possibilities that were totally accidental, and onyxcullen & dncr1010p for picking out one that was intentional after I wrote it. However, it was the "Not the only Rose" comment that Rose makes internally. I would put more up, but I've only gotten 3 reviews so far for chapter 2, so there ya go.**

**A lifetime of gratitude and servitude to The Veronicas for keeping my writing juices flowing. Also, to Google Earth and Maps for being around so I could go galavanting off to Siberia to pick a town from the comfort of my own house, own working fireplace, and hot chocolate! (Sick of the cold.)**

**DISCLAIMER: Richelle Mead owns the rocking VA series and its awesome characters.**

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Eddie removed his hand off my mouth, but kept his other on my shoulder, turning it as if to throw me down to the ground. Honestly, I was scared to death. I had never seen Eddie like this; he'd been a little ticked off at me at Mason's funeral for not saving Mason, but I was too out of it to notice. This was beyond scary. I felt like I was in a horror movie.

"What?" I growled, mad, hungry and tired all at the same time.

"Kirova's. Why?" Eddie demanded, loosening his grip ever so slightly.

"I got caught." I looked at his forehead, not wanting to tell him anything more than that.

"Caught doing what?"

"With who, more like it," I muttered.

"Huh?" Eddie asked, having not heard what I said. He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. What did you get caught doing, Rose?"

"Making out. With someone I shouldn't have been kissing in the first place." I looked down to escape Eddie's stare.

"Who?" He asked, not letting his grip go.

"Look, can't I just get to dinner? I've just spent a good portion of my day in Kirova's office I'll never get back. I just want to eat." I was on the verge of whining, but I didn't care. I was hungry as hell.

"Who?" Eddie repeated, not letting the subject go.

"Dimitri Belikov," I said quietly, looking at him in the eye. He raised an eyebrow. "Dimitri Belikov," I said a little louder, looking around to make sure we were the only ones out here.

"_Belikov_?! You have a thing for _Belikov_?!" Eddie cried exasperated.

"Shut up, Eddie!" I hissed, still wildly looking around.

"Oh, so it's not public yet? Your boyfriend doesn't want it that way" He asked, trying to keep the teasing out of his voice.

"Just shut the hell up. You'll see soon enough. Now let me go before I use what my _boyfriend_ taught me," I said, letting the venom soak in each of my words. He let go of my shoulder as if it were a stove that was turned on.

"There you go. Go eat your damn dinner, then, if you're not willing to talk." Eddie put his hands up. I had already started to turn around and walk away.

"You know, if you were to give a girl some credit once, it might save your butt later," I said defiantly and walked towards the cafeteria. I walked in and blindly went through the motions of getting food; it wasn't until I'd gotten everything that I realized I'd have to face Christian, Lissa and Adrian.

Adrian. I groaned. Not only would he be hurt, but his ego would reach exploding point - he had guessed that I was into older guys on the ski trip back in December. This would only prove his point. Dimitri was 7 years older than me. Well, going by ages, 6 years older, but it was still a big enough difference for Adrian.

I dropped next to Adrian, across from Lissa and Christian. They gave me enough time to open my water bottle before they imploded with questions. I couldn't make out most of them. Really, it all faded together before I yelled for them to be quiet and ask their questions one-by-one. Lissa spoke first.

"Where were you?! You left to go off somewhere and then never came back for afternoon classes!" Christian and Adrian murmured agreements.

Adrian laughed. "The rumor was that some random Strigoi carried you off, and that we might as well pronounce you dead by the time dinner rolled around. Hence why everyone is staring at you." I looked around at his words. People were ducking their heads.

"So what'll be the rumor now? I came back from the dead?" I joked, picking at my salad.

"Rose, you're not answering the question," Lissa said.

"I spent the whole afternoon at Kirova's with Dimitri, my mom, Alberta, and Stan," I explained lamely.

"Talking about your failing grades, right?" Lissa pressed. Through the bond, I could feel that she knew more than she was letting on.

"Nah," Adrian said, smiling wickedly and staring at me. "Something about Belikov."

"Dimitri? What about Dimitri, Rose?" Lissa asked. I side-kicked Adrian in the shin.

"How did you know about-" I started, but Adrian opened his jacket long enough for me to see that he'd taken a drink outside the cafeteria before going in. No wonder the vodka smell was so fresh.

"Rose? What are you not telling us?" Christian asked, having forgotten his meal.

"Okay, you know what? Don't hate me for what I'm about to say. I've been through enough of hell right now, I don't need any crap from you guys," I said, trying to keep the looming darkness at bay. Lissa started getting anxious, through the bond as well, and started doing little jumps in her seat to see if her theory was right.

"My mom caught me making out with Dimitri" I said, and then immeadiately avoided everyone's gaze. An awkward silence filled the table.

_This wasn't the first time, was it?_ Lissa asked me through the bond. I nodded. She almost spit out her soda at my answer.

_Have you...? _Lissa trailed off, unsure of how to ask me if something more had happened. Again, I nodded, except with awful timing. She started choking, and Adrian leaned over and slapped her on the back. She coughed a couple of times, and then shuddered.

"Sorry about that," I mumbled.

"No problem," She coughed out, and then with one more coughed, she told Christian she was fine.

"What did Lissa ask you?" Christian asked me after a few minutes of silence.

"Nothing I'm willing to share with you," I snapped, bending the fork handle 90 degrees.

"Rose," Lissa said sternly.

"Sorry my love life isn't as easy as yours," I replied back, not caring what she had to say. I got up and cleared my area, leaving the cafeteria in a huff. This was just the beginning of what I knew would be a very long weekend; the part I didn't want to face was the rumors from people I barely knew.

I was halfway across the grounds when Lissa called my name.

"What do you want?" I asked, sitting down on a bench. She sat down next to me.

"How come you never told me?" Lissa asked, looking at me with a hurt expression.

"I couldn't tell anyone. It would've been bad if we did," I said quietly, looking down at my hands.

"Well, it's bad now! You could've said something to someone! Rose, I'm your best friend. I thought we shared everything and didn't keep stuff like this from each other. I'm now wondering if there's more you haven't told me." Lissa's voice matched her expression.

"There's nothing else to tell you," I said softly.

"Good, because it feels like you've kept your whole life from me. Why didn't you tell me about you and Dimitri earlier? Being your best friend, I should've been told sooner."

"Because it could've leaked, and then Dimitri could end up fired, I would most likely get expelled, and a lot of bad things would happen. We didn't pursue it earlier, like when we first got back - or at least,_ he_ didn't," I added, still looking at my hands.

"Couldn't you have at least hinted at it?" Lissa asked, her emotions fluttering through the bond.

"Couldn't you have included me in your life when you started going out with Christian?" I retorted, staring at her in the eye now. She blushed and looked away, obviously caught.

"That's different," She finally said.

"No it's not," I said coldly. "Look, I'm not in the best mood to talk, okay?"

"Sure," Lissa mumbled, "You've obviously gone through a lot today. Maybe if I'd known, I would've been able to help you. You're acting like...like you did after Mason died."

I stood up. "Yeah, well maybe if I had felt comfortable telling you, maybe I wouldn't have reason to act like I am now. I'll talk to you tomorrow, Lissa."

Almost happily, I walked back to my dorm, on the edge of excited to go to sleep - but the little voice in my head, which was shut up almost instantly, told me that Christian and Lissa might not agree with my need for sleep.

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**Chapter 4 up (hopefully) tomorrow. I'm about to get off since my mom thinks I spend too much time on the computer. Don't worry; the next chapter'll have Dimitri in it. **

**Shout-outs:**

**sky colour - I didn't originally plan the ending after Rose and Janine's talk the way it rolled out. I left my notebook at school over the break, so I was trying to remember what I wrote, lol. It was some nice twists that'll have more meaning this chapter and next.  
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	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, I totally spaced on the last chapter with the Twilight reference. If you can find one, let me know!! I'd like to know if I put one in there by accident. **

**On a side note: I am aware that it might seem a little OOC right now, but there's a reason for it, that'll become more clear as the chapters go on! I've planned everything out for a reason.**

**Something that should make everyone very happy: Chapters are going to get longer (starting with this one)!!! This chapter totally changed direction as I was writing it (hey, when you're stuck in a car for 7.5 hours with no leg room makes you change your mind on some things), so the plot's a little different, but some things are going to remain the same.**

**Round of thanks to Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Chris Daughtry and The Veronicas for keeping the writing juices going.**

**DISCLAIMER: Richelle Mead owns the rocking VA series and its awesome characters.**

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I spent the weekend in the med clinic, under the watch- and careful eye of Alberta. It was the only way to escape the rumors, gossip and slurs. The gossip I could handle. Even the rumors I could handle; threaten someone with a black eye who was passing around a popular rumor, and it got squashed. It was the slurs that sent me running for a nice little cave. Most of them were pretty harmless, according to Eddie (who'd thankfully calmed down after the little demanding-answers situation; he apparently had been in the administrative building at the same time, and heard the shouting. He saw me and Janine leave and was then insanely curious.), but someone, most likely Moroi, worked up enough courage to start a little group to hiss "blood whore" wherever I went, thus setting off a chain reaction for the rest of the upper campus.

It was ironic that I chose the company of Dimitri. He himself had brought a whole new meaning to the term "blood whore" after I found out that he had grown up in a dhampir community in Siberia of all places. What drove the point home was the fact that Dimitri was the only male dhampir in his family. His father was Moroi, though visited regularly, and I think Dimitri mentioned once that his father paid the mortgage on the house his sisters and mother lived in. It was pretty nice, considering I was unsure of my father's own name.

Though spending hours with Dimitri was just about killing me and sending me to a very nice heaven, it would've been nicer, had Alberta not been there. I mean, she gave us our privacy and all, standing outside the room, and poking her head in when things got a little too quiet for Kirova's liking, but it was her presence that put a cloud on the happy feeling I was getting on the inside.

Still, I don't think I ever laughed as hard in two days as I did that weekend. The stories Dimitri told me proved that if I'd had siblings growing up and actually lived at home with my mom, I would've gotten myself into the same messes that Dimitri and his sisters did. Despite being the middle kid of four sisters, he was treated poorly. In fact, by the 16th wacky adventure, it seemed like they looked up to him, even his older sisters, Natalya and Nikita.

"Irkutsk was the name of the city," Dimitri said, late Sunday. "We lived in a little village of sorts right outside. It took us maybe fifteen minutes to walk to the city, and right before I came to America, my father gave us a tiny car. It could only hold two people, but getting into Irkutsk was much faster that way. I don't think Talya or Nikki ever learned to drive it. I did teach my mother, though. She insisted." Dimitri chuckled and shook his head, as if remembering a fight about the issue.

"I take it that you were very close to her," I said when the doorknob started to turn. Seriously, didn't Alberta have some other guardian duty to go do? Dimitri nodded solemnly.

"I still am," he said. "They still don't have a computer; besides, Americans have keyboard with English letterings. It's hard to write in Russian when half your letters are nowhere to be found. Writing by hand costs a lot of money, but it's worth it." Dimitri looked down at his hands. I reached over and took one of them, grasping it as tight as I could before he started feeling uncomfortable.

"I'd like to see them again, Roza. I think Nikita would have some problems with your attitude, but everyone else would absolutely love you. Especially my mother. She hates seeing me alone and sad," Dimitri said after a while.

I didn't say anything. The silence made something in my head click, because after a while, I realized he meant that he would like me to meet his family. That stunned me. I mean, I knew he loved me and all, but that was like saying you want to love someone forever. Human or not, meeting the other's family was serious business. As if sensing something in the air around me, he gave the hands that were holding his left a tiny squeeze, as if to comfort me.

"You're saying the next time you go back home to Russia, you want me to come with you?" I asked slowly, still in disbelief that he'd even think about something like that.

"Obviously, it might have to be after you graduate, but yes, I definitely want you to," Dimitri said defiantly. My head spun, but the part that was standing still was cheering more than when he slept with me, and the little time after that before the attack.

The dinner bell sounded, putting a tiny dent in my euphoria.

"I'll have to take you up on that some time, then," I said, standing up and taking my hands back. I picked up the bag I had started to carry around lately that held the silver stake no one knew I had unofficially among other things.

"See you tomorrow, Rose," Dimitri murmured after I stole a quick kiss. I smiled and practically danced out of the room.

Dinner was peaceful, to say the least. I was not myself; that part was obvious to everyone in the room. I was too excited to even eat, so I skipped getting food and headed over to the table that Adrian was sneaking a drink at.

"You know that I could smell that vodka from across the room, and the Moroi have better noses than I do?" I said, dropping down in front of him, the smell of the fresh vodka twisting my stomach. It didn't damper my mood, though. Nothing could.

"Yeah, and what are you going to do about it?" Adrian said roughly, taking me and my aura in. "Your aura's not so dark. I don't suppose you're going to tell me what's up."

"Nope. Not a chance, Adrian," I said, grinning and shaking my head. "You'll be lucky if I tell Lissa and you manage to squeeze it out of her."

"Tell me what?" Lissa asked, leaving Christian's side and sitting next to me, apparently noticing my mood change like everyone else. Christian made a face, but sat next to Adrian. Adrian, meanwhile, had taken another mini flask of vodka out of his coat pocket and drained it in two seconds flat. He moved over about half a chair, and stared at me, as if to figure me out.

"Nothing; though if it goes according to plan, you'd have to come anyway," I said, almost slipping up. My mood did darken just the slightest bit, but not enough for anyone to notice.

I'd be Lissa's guardian after graduation, so that would mean she'd have to come to Russia. Oh well. If Dimitri was correct on Nikita not liking me, then Lissa could be Nikita's American friend.

"Really?" Lissa asked, dropping her fork and brightening. She tugged on my shirt sleeve a little. "Where are we going? Paris? Rome? I've always wanted to go to Tuscany, you know, the country region of Italy? Oh, that'd be awesome…" Lissa whispered, going off into her own little trance of daydreams of where the mystery place could be.

"Knowing what I know, it'd most likely be Siberia," Adrian said, staring me down. I couldn't help feeling like a lab rat under a microscope. Lissa frowned.

"Siberia? As in Siberia, Russia? That cold wasteland? What's in Russia?"

"Irkutsk," Adrian said, still staring at me. I swore inside my head. Adrian sometimes knew too much, and he was just leading Lissa on to a disappointing end.

"What the hell is in Irkutsk?" Lissa asked, clearly confused now.

"Not in. Right next door. A dhampir community, as I seem to recall. One that, oh, I don't know, Dimitri grew up in?" The question was aimed at me, and I glared right back in response. Ever since Adrian got to prove his point about my liking older guys, he seemed to have a grudge against Dimitri that showed up like a bat out of hell. Lissa shook her head, showing her lack of awareness that conveniently showed up every so often, sometimes taking her balance right along for the ride into disappearing land.

"Why would we go- Oh, I get it now. He wants you to meet his family," Lissa said quietly. "And I would only go along since you'd be my guardian." I pressed my lips together, but dropped the glare. Adrian could be pissed at Dimitri all he wanted, in my opinion. Christian was still silent during the whole thing; he reached over and grabbed Lissa's hand.

"You know what Lissa? It'll be the last thing I'll be able to do on my own, thinking about myself, so get a life and get over your self. If I had it _my_ way, I'd go tomorrow and drop out, because I'm sure as hell positive that Irkutsk is _much_ better than here. And for your information, Siberia is _not _an arctic wasteland. Look up pictures on the Internet, because you're _wrong_. It is _way_ more beautiful than Tuscany," I said, and stormed off, grabbing my bag on the way out.

The rest of the night blurred into the next two weeks. I ended up tossing my personal rule out the window due to the circumstances and visited Dimitri for about two hours everyday, where more hilarious stories would keep my mind off things.

At the end of the second Friday, the day before Dimitri got released, Alberta, unknowing to the kisses we stole everyday, left her post for a few minutes. Her shadow in front of the translucent screen disappeared, which lead to a quick, but heavy, make out session that ended when her voice started to float down the hallway, laughing at whoever she was talking with. I could feel that my lips were a little bit bigger than they should've been, so I kept my head ducked as I passed by Alberta on my way out. She smiled at me like she had no idea, though I prepared myself should that not be the case.

When Dimitri was released, he was given fifteen sheets on what not to do, but only three on what _to_do. He had been walking a little when I was in class, but Alberta and I helped him back to his room anyway. Down the hallway was much shorter a distance than the med clinic to the guardian's dorm. After Dimitri was situated in his room, Alberta took the same position as she did in the med clinic – outside the door to give us some amount of privacy. Kirova wasn't as bad as she seemed for the time being.

Dimitri was propped up in his bed, almost drowning in a sea of pillows. A stack of brand new Westerns sat within arm's reach – how those got there, and who got them was beyond me, but I was grateful. Dimitri wouldn't be too bored when I was trying to salvage my grades. I was sitting in the desk chair in the corner, my bag on the floor right next to the wall. Dimitri looked around for something, but didn't seem to be able to find it.

"Rose, could you hand me the pad right behind you, and the pencil sitting on top of it?" Dimitri asked, pointing to the desk behind me. I grabbed what he wanted and gave it to him, sitting myself next to him in the mess of pillows. "Thank you," he said, opening up the pad. Inside, were some of the most beautiful sketches I'd ever seen in my life.

"You draw?" I asked, incredulous to this new fact. Dimitri nodded.

"This is actually my old set. It's nothing special, just drawings of home I did when I found out I'd be coming here. My father gave this to me. I dropped the original pencil near the airport, and there were too many people to try to stop and find it. But this works just as well…" Dimitri said, trailing off at the end when he stopped at a sketch of five women.

"You can do everything," I joked, looking at the picture. Tentatively, he put an arm me, as I moved closer to him. "Is that your family?"

"If you put in my father, then yes. This was actually the first one I did," Dimitri said quietly, pulling his knees up a little to rest the pad on them. I traced the space above where the intricate vines circled the drawing.

"It's still beautiful," I murmured.

"I got in trouble a lot in school for drawing an array of things in the corners of my papers instead of actually doing the work," Dimitri said.

"You doodled," I said, mostly to myself, absorbing this fact. Dimitri chuckled.

"Is that what they call it in America?"

I nodded and pointed to the woman in the center. "Is she your mom?" I asked, resting my now blank nails in the tiny little space that wasn't shaded in. My manicure was gone, even the two little flicks of gold on the thumb I noticed the other day.

"Yes," Dimitri said, and then was quiet for a minute, like he was trying to put himself together and not lose it in front of me. Going in a clockwise circle, he pointed out his sisters, all of whom were smiling except for one.

"Natalya, Nikita, Elaina, and Victoria," Dimitri explained, tapping his finger lightly on Nikita, the one who wasn't smiling, like I had guessed. "Victoria's the youngest. She's your age, actually. It's funny; we all thought she was going to be a boy, and then when the midwife told my parents that she was a girl, my dad quickly changed 'Victor' to 'Victoria', 'a name' he told everyone, 'that he had heard in Europe'. Irkutsk is technically in Asia, so it was amazing to the rest of us that he had gone so far.

"And there's Elaina; she's about three years older than you. You could call her the most practical and realistic of the family. She always had a good head on her shoulders. She promised me that she wouldn't let our mother go insane while I was here, halfway around the world.

"Nikita; she's two years exactly older than me. We have the same birthday, and growing up it always bothered her. It was supposed to be her special day, and the fact that she had to share it with her younger brother upset her. My mother would get on her case, asking her if she wanted to be born on a different day then. Nikki always said yes, and then my mother would slap her and tell her to keep dreaming, because she was already born.

"And that's Natalya. She's probably my favorite sister out of all four. If I remember correctly, she's about three and a half years older than me. We were all born in April, except for Talya. She was always excited because her birthday was two months before Christmas, so it was always an onslaught of new things for her. She's a lot like you, Roza. Almost too much alike sometimes," Dimitri said quietly, resting his head on top of mine and sighing.

"I'm sorry if loving you makes you homesick," I said, joking a little. Dimitri laughed once.

"Not too terribly. Natalya was the most excited for me through her letters after I had to drag you back here. 'Meeting Roza would be by far neat, exciting and definitely interesting. I would love to meet myself one day,' Natalya wrote after a few months. She was happy that I found someone past remotely interesting. She claimed that was my problem growing up. I never really liked anyone past being friends. Despite what you may think, Rose, this is actually my first time really liking anyone outside of my family. It's an uncharted road for me, one I'm glad you're helping me walk on for the first time," Dimitri said, kissing the top of my head. "I love you, Roza."

"I love you, too, Dimitri," I said quietly, leaning into him, the both of us ignoring his physical pain and completely focused on the moment.

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**Chapaters 5 up this week and 6/7 up this weekend. **

**Shout-outs:  
HA! None this update.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Twilight reference shout-outs:**

**This one should surprise you all a bit. [: I know some things may not make sense; sorry about that. Rose is a little confused on the things you might be confused about, so they'll be reexplained later on.**

**Round of thanks to Chris Daughtry and The Veronicas for keeping the writing juices going.**

**DISCLAIMER: Richelle Mead owns the rocking VA series and its awesome characters.**

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March flew by. Dimitri regained his strength, while Alberta was relaxing her watch on us a lot more. It made the both of us happy, though it did put Dimitri on an edge I'd never seen him on before. He was always got this pinched look on his face whenever someone would come by, and Alberta would go with them. It didn't make any sense to him, but he didn't seem to worry about it too much – or at least, when I wasn't around.

Around the halfway mark between Spring Break and Easter, Dimitri started the training sessions up again. The first day back, I was sore as hell. I hadn't exerted that much energy in a while, so it was like a wake-up call for me. I ended up on my knees (somehow) the next day, begging him to let me have a few extra days for my muscles to stop hurting and to let them get used to lots of physical work.

"Strigoi won't care if you've sat in front of a TV for decades or killed one of them earlier that day. They just won't care one bit," he said, but let me have a day and a half.

My mother stuck around for a while. Occasionally, I'd see her walking around the campus, or even in Stan's class every once in a while. One time, she sat in on one of my dhampir training classes; the one time she did, was possibly one of my best days, where I not only flattened everyone twice (and sometimes three times), but basically outperformed everyone in the class.

"Stop showing off for your mom," Eddie said at one point, but I shook my head.

"I'm not showing off. Dimitri started up the training sessions again. I just went to one right before I came here," I said, looking at him for a reaction at Dimitri's name. He flinched, remembering that night; he then left me alone to go keep control of the class.

Lissa kept her space after my outburst, but still acted as my friend. We didn't talk like we used to before she found about me and Dimitri; instead, we talked like close friends who were just a tiny bit sick of each other and were avoiding several big subjects. I was surprised as I realized this one night. Normally, she'd push me into subjects and conversations and topics I, like Dimitri, would rather avoid than talk openly about.

Adrian continued to give me the cold shoulder. Any time he saw me with Dimitri, when Dimitri wasn't looking, he'd give me the middle finger and take another shot, or drain another mini flask. Christian did the same thing on a slightly less extreme level after he saw that Lissa and I weren't as close as we used to be; silence was all I got.

The upper campus as a whole became used to the notion of Dimitri and I together. Sometimes a teacher would shake their head if we were walking around, holding hands, and Moroi would mouth "blood whore" in my direction (which made no sense anyway – I was with another dhampir, for crying out loud; I then ended up assuming it was the only hurtful one they knew), but overall, that started to disappear after two weeks or so. It got to the point where people wouldn't think twice if they saw the two of us together. Some younger Moroi would come up to me and ask me if I ever kissed him; I just smiled, told them to keep their fantasies to themselves, and walked off, most likely back to Dimitri. After a while, I felt like a true high-schooler, since Dimitri insisted on walking me to every single class. It was sweet, a bit tacky, and sometimes downright annoying, but I grinned and bared it, fully knowing what could've happened had my mom not let go back in the cave for Dimitri and just let the Strigoi take him.

My grades, however, only slightly increased. I went from D-straight to C-straight. I needed at least 3 B's to graduate by May, and I only had two classes near the B mark. One class, my weapons training (which involved faux silver stakes), was up at the A-level, so I wasn't stressing too much.

The darkness, the one thing I wanted to improve the most, did not. It kept coming back, most of the time, when I wasn't with Dimitri. It was like Dimitri was my drug – my anti-darkness drug, something I could only take when I was with him. Just about every night, either I would wake up, screaming from nightmares about some alternate universe in which Dimitri was gone, had turned into a Strigoi himself, or didn't make it out of his coma, or I was trapped in Lissa's body, slowly chewing Christian's face off every night because of anger and sadness directed towards me. I would wake up screaming from that, too. That was more in my head, though, but the shuddering was real.

The first half of April passed by in pretty much the same fashion. Most seniors, like me, were looking forward towards mid-June – graduation time. We would be free from St. Vladimir's, most of us having been there since Kindergarten. I had experienced freedom before, though i was limited, and there was always that fear of being caught every day.

I also managed to bring three classes up to B's with the help of Dimitri, who was starting to prove my theory of being able to do anything and everything. I sighed in relief when I asked Stan Alto what my grade was and he told me an 82. He then looked at me quizzically, to which I told him that I was getting some extra help outside of class.

Lissa and I grew distant, not really acting like we used to. We were starting to go our own ways; her with Christian and Adrian, and me with Dimitri and loneliness. One day Christian actually talked to me, but it was just to tell me that he's noticed that I've matured too far for Lissa's liking, and it's part of the reason he believed that Lissa and I weren't really that close anymore. He told me it also has to do with hurt feelings (which I could totally understand; Lissa literally took those feelings out on his face) and that I kept such a big secret from her and that seeing me with Dimitri out around the campus just proved that point. I smiled sadly and told him to tell Lissa that it wasn't my fault and that I was sorry. He passed on the apology that night.

On April 15th, two days before Dimitri's birthday, Dimitri was walking me back to my dorm, the spring air finally settling down into the breezy mid-70s it normally got to this time of year. It was silent, but comfortable; I appreciated this weather and I was soaking up the end-of-year hype that was spreading through everyone. I was beginning to realize I had missed in the two years I had run away.

Dimitri stopped suddenly, remembering something, and pulled me over to a bench. Alberta stopped, too, but stood a good 20 feet away from us.

"Do you remember what I told you back in February about wanting to see my family, and you coming with me?"

I nodded. "You told me that I was the first person you ever loved outside of your family."

"Alberta heard the part about me wanting to go home, just for a little while. She went to Headmistress Kirova, pulled some strings, so, if I remember correctly, you get one of these," Dimitri said, handing me a plane ticket.

Missoula to Irkutsk, with a layover in Seattle. We were to fly out tomorrow, in time to get there for his birthday.

I squealed – wow, I've been alone lately – and hugged Dimitri tightly. I sat back and stared at the ticket.

"Wow. How'd Alberta manage?" I asked rhetorically, referring to how I was able to come along.

"Well, technically, I'm not supposed to bring you, but Alberta gave Headmistress Kirova nothing but a perfect report on us, so she felt nice and bought two and told Alberta to tell us to behave ourselves. Besides, you're just about gone from here, you've managed to bring up your grades tremendously, and you are 18 and have been for several months now. I'm still in shock, and I've known for a couple weeks now," Dimitri said, standing up and offering his hand. Taking it, I shook my head in disbelief.

"So how long am I going to get out of Stan's class?" I asked, hoping for two weeks.

"A month," Dimitri said.

"A month?!" I repeated, shocked.

"I already have all the work you need for your written classes, and your two training classes are covered, largely in thanks of your continued training sessions. We could've stopped them back in October, but that's another story."

"Sweet; I'll do a lot of it on the plane then. It's what, a sixteen hour flight?" I asked again. We had now stopped in front of my dorm.

"Eighteen, but you'll manage. There's only a little reading involved, and you should be grateful that your math load is the lightest. I'll drop off the backpack with everything in it tonight. There's some room for you to bring some other stuff in case you get tired of doing school work at some point."

"You and Alberta are the best," I said, grinning.

"Natalya's excited," Dimitri said quietly, and then left me to somehow sit through two and half hours of homework until he dropped by before dinner to make sure I had finished everything and to help me with anything I didn't finish. The darkness made it hard to concentrate.

Today, though, the out-of-my-mind happiness that was taking over my head kept the darkness away. I finished my homework in record time, giving me tons of time to pack; by the time I was done and finding something to do for the next 15 minutes while I waited for Dimitri, I had packed nearly everything I wore. I had gotten a laptop for my birthday from my mom, and since a number of students were getting them, the school put WiFi in the dorms. They forget about the fact that WiFi isn't just in one building, but can travel to other buildings, so there had been some cases of students instant messaging on their phones during tests in class.

20 minutes passed before Dimitri showed up with the backpack, but I was elated all the same to see him. He noticed the suitcase, sitting by the door, all ready to go. About halfway through reviewing my homework, I noticed that Alberta hadn't showed up.

"Where's Alberta? Shouldn't she be standing outside the door?" I asked, turning towards Dimitri. He looked up from my laptop, looking at an essay I had finished today, ready to print, and smiled a little, before putting it away into his usual stoic exterior.

"The plane ticket was also metaphorical," Dimitri said simply, pressing a few keys. "You forgot and article," he explained, continuing to read.

"A metaphor for what exactly?" I asked.

"As a ticket out of probation; the probation Headmistress Kirova gave you is over now. For the rest of your life," Dimitri added, not taking his eyes off the screen. He was hiding something.

"How long have you known this was coming?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It was over when I got the tickets, two and a half weeks ago. Alberta only played the part the entire time. She explained to me why she was suddenly abandoning her post lately, and even in March. Headmistress Kirova meant for your mom to watch us, and she was. You've noticed your mom wandering around campus, right?" I nodded. "She was doing the post job, not Alberta."

I grunted in response. Dimitri finished looking over the essay and turned the computer to me.

"Try doing the fifth paragraph over again. It doesn't fully support what you claimed the fifth item in your thesis to be." He turned to the several pages of pre-Calculus that I somehow completed in under an hour. Sighing dramatically, I reread my thesis and went to work on redoing the fifth paragraph. When I finished, Dimitri had finished calculating every problem – between the plane tickets and the math, I was certain he could do anything now – so he could immediately look over it.

"Better. Not perfect, but it works with the level of your other paragraphs. For someone who's killed numerous Strigoi, I would've expected you to have come up with a better strategy for the prompt." Absent-mindedly, I touched the three marks on the back of my neck. Two for the ones I killed in Washington, the other for the many unnumbered I killed back in February. The dinner bell sounded and I stood up to leave. Dimitri was still sitting.

When I was fully standing, Dimitri quickly pulled me into his lap and pressed his lips against my neck. Several kisses later, he rested his chin on my shoulder.

"I guess I have to give you up for the night," he said sadly.

"Yes, but I'll be all yours tomorrow and for a good portion of the next month. You can give me up for a few hours."

"Speaking of which, before I let you go," Dimitri said, tightening his grip around my waist, "You need to meet me down in front of your dorm at three in the morning on the Academy's time. It'll be three in the afternoon for the human world."

"I can do three. Now, can I please go eat before I wither away to nothing from starvation, and then you'll be going to Russia tomorrow by yourself?" Reluctantly, Dimitri let go of me, but long enough for the both of us to stand up. He spun me around and snaked his arm around my waist, pulling me into a passionate kiss that ended all too quickly. His other hand had found my hair, and was twisted in it.

"Damn it. I haven't been doing that enough," Dimitri growled huskily and let me go like a dog not getting a treat after doing an amazing trick. Despite what we both wanted, we went different ways after we exited my dorm. Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.

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**Chapaters 6/7 up this weekend. **

**Poll time!! (Through reviews, please!)  
First one: _How long should I keep this story going?_ I'm already planning on doing a sequel and possibly doing a third and maybe a fourth. ((Depends on how long I can not get tired of this.)) Keep that it mind when you tell me "50 CHAPTERS PLEASE!!"  
Second one: _Should I do a chapter or two from Dimitri's POV?_ I don't want to mess up the story by putting in a POV chapter that isn't Rose's AND completely mess up the chapter itself. I have a chapter that I can do from either POV (R/D), so I'm asking your opinion, because this is partly what you want to read.  
Third (and final) one: _What should Dimitri's mother name be?_ First welcomed most, last can be added (if you want; I'm having her go by her maiden name in this).**

**Tell me your thoughts and review, review, review!!!**

**Shout-outs:  
HA! None this update. (again, I know; I'm also a little behind on replying to the reviews. I'm getting to them!!)**


	6. Chapter 6

**I love all of you have reviewed to the last chapter. I was laughing so hard, I literally fell out of my chair. [: One of you actually guessed my little twist for the end of the story that'll set up the sequel[s]. But I'm not telling anyone who that is!! Congrats to for suggesting the name that just...fit, I guess would be the word. Anyway, rounds of props to them. You'll see the name later on in the next chapter.**

**Oky, so being the forgetful person that I am, I totally forgot to research flight durations and such, SO I'm going to fix up the mistakes I made last chapter and actually research it, too.**

**Round of thanks to whatever's on my iPod right now (Muse right now I think) for not making my ears have to sit through silence. **

**DISCLAIMER: Richelle Mead owns the rocking VA series and its awesome characters.**

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I didn't fall asleep that night. I was too wired up; the thought of leaving the country with only Dimitri had my mind going at a million miles an hour. Just the fact that I could very well kiss him whenever I wanted kept me bouncing on the spot.

Still, I was downstairs and waiting for him, suitcase and backpack with me at 2. I sat down on a bench and watched the sun cross the sky.

Right before 3, Adrian sauntered up to me, just a little bit sluggish, considering he _was_ Moroi and it was sunny outside. I rolled my eyes as he sat down wordlessly next to me, pulled out a phone he must've gotten recently and texted someone.

"You're leaving today?" He asked, looking over at my bags. He looked a little out of it, and his usual smell wasn't as strong. I nodded, looking ahead.

"I just told Lissa that today was the day. She's pissed at you, and I think she wants you gone for a while."

"Okay," I said, still staring ahead. A black car pulled up, a cross between a nice Mercedes and a roomy SUV. I saw Dimitri look out at me and Adrian.

"You don't care," Adrian noted.

"What I care about is none of your business," I shot back, and stood up. He said something else, but I wasn't paying attention. I put everything in the backseat next to Dimitri's stuff and slammed the door closed. I turned back to where Adrian was originally, but he was gone. I groaned on the inside, but got inside the car anyway. No doubt he'd do something to my name or reputation while I was gone, but I could handle that.

"What was that all about?" Dimitri asked me as the gate was opened for us.

"Adrian acting like an ass because he hates your guts," I replied nonchalantly, looking out the window. I saw Dimitri raise an eyebrow.

"Really? Too bad I can't teach him a lesson or two on hating people." I shot Dimitri a glare.

"Don't. It'll only get you in trouble," I said. I turned and looked at him, concern in my eyes. He sighed and kept looking ahead after seeing my expression.

"Fine," He muttered, and then the ride was silent the rest of the way. I kept my iPod trned up loudly, loud enough so that Dimitri would look at me oddly if a song came on that he either didn't agree with or just sounded really...out there, which was really ironic, considering most of my music consisted of rock and alternative and crappy metal music like Metallica.

When we got the airport, it turned out that our flight had been rescheduled for a different route because our original pilot was lost somewhere over South America.

I snorted.

"What?" Dimitri asked me as we were waiting to go through security.

"I'm glad I'm not on that flight," I muttered to myself and turned p to him. "This defeats the whole purpose, right? I mean, it's going to take us two days to get there with all the layovers and time zone changes, so we'll get there after your birthday."

"That's the way you see it," Dimitri replied, and I sighed quietly as he put on his usual stoic exterior. This was going to be a long flight.

For it being Thursday, customs took a lot longer than it should've. Now I understood why you needed four hours for international flights. We ended up having barley enough time to get to the other end of the airport in time for our flight.

"It's two hours until our first layover. You can eat something then," Dimitri told me as my stomach started to get louder than the plane's engines when we were taking off.

"Thank you," I muttered, sliding in my seat. It got me a glare from the fligth attendant who told me to sit up. Then again, she was pushing 100 by the looks of it.

One hour and 58 minutes (okay, so maybe I was counting, but just a little bit) later, we landed in Denver. I almost sprinted to nearest Burger King. I was done with my second Whopper by the time Dimitri caught up with me. I was also getting weird looks from everyone else sitting in the very open restaurant. (It was more like a shop with tables and chairs set up around it.) I ended up paying for two more just for the trip to Moscow, which was going to be ten hours.

We found our new gate, since we had to switch airlines, and had a quick, fifteen minute wait. While I watched everyone else board, I snacked on one of the large fry-pods.

"You're going to become larger than minivan if you keep eating those fries that way," Dimitri muttered to me as I started on the second one.

"You know you want one," I taunted in between mouthfuls, and waved a rather long fry in his face while nosily draining a Coke. Dimitri gave me a look. "Oh c'mon comrade, you know you really want it. You're just dying on the inside to have one because you haven't had one in ages. The fry is calling your name, 'Dimitri, Dimitri, I want you to eat me, Dimitri, come eat me,'" I said, dragging his name out. I knew I was playing with fire, but it was fun all the while. Our group was called to board.

"Give me that," Dimitri said, and grabbed the fry out of my hand and shoved it in his mouth. I pretended to clap and shouldered the backpack. I handed him the rest of he fry-pod – he was looking at it pretty longingly – and finally got on the plane.

10 hours, 48 minutes, 32 readings, 6 essays, 4 pounds of class work, and 1 hurting, tired brain later, we landed in Moscow. Dimitri spent a good portion of the time helping me, but otherwise, I honestly I couldn't tell you what he did. I think he read or something. I was glad that, technically, I didn't have to pay attention in college. It also really sunk in how much work I actually was supposed to do in a month.

The flight was probably the longest in my life. We had a quick 2 hour flight to Frankfurt – why we were going in the other direction is beyond me – and then it was a seven hour flight to Irkutsk, and then, _finally_, I could catch up on missed sleep. There was no way I was sleeping when there was no one else but strangers surrounding me and Dimitri.

In the airport itself, everything was in Russian, and I could tell Dimitri felt right at home, easily managing and maneuvering throughout the airport. On the plane, right before we took off, he dropped a Russian-English dictionary in my lap.

"Thanks a lot," I muttered, turning to look out the window.

Dimitri laughed once. "You'll need it more than you'll realize. It's not like French or Spanish where you can manage by picking out the Latin roots." At my look, he added, "Russian's a Slavic language, which means it's not even remotely similar to Latin. Have fun," He said, a tiny bit sarcastic. I opened and flipped through it, staring in horror. I finally concluded that it needed to be your first language in order for you to even get some sort of grasp on it.

By the time we landed in Irkutsk, I had managed to memorize the "lifesaver sayings" which included greetings, partings, formalities, and sayings for emergency situations. I closed the dictionary, having worked my brain enough for 28 hours or so. Dimitri was practically jumping up and down in his seat; sadly, he kept his exterior and just walked off the plane as if he merely visiting here for the thousandth time. I could tell, though, that he was nearly jumping out of his skin, by the way he held my hand tightly and almost hopped whenever he took a step and was walking as fast as possible. Now I was glad for all the running and physical work I did on a twice daily basis.

Again, everything was in Russian, but I understood the sign right above the parking garage, which made me happy. It said a simple "Welcome to Russia", but it made me feel like I had more of a grasp on Dimitri's homeland.

It was fairly warm for Russia, about 50 degrees, though it took me a second to realize that the giant clock in the middle of the lot wasn't in Fahrenheit and that it was 10 degrees _Celsius_. I felt really stupid when Dimitri had to explain and convert things for me.

He talked in rapid Russian to someone on a new cell phone he pulled out of nowhere. "This way," he said, pulling his suitcase and me towards the right. I was starting to feel a little cold when Dimitri broke away from me and literally ran towards a small group of woman milling around a car away from everyone else's. The woman Dimitri was hugging was noticeably older than everyone else, so I took her to be his mother. I dragged both suitcases over to the group, and it suddenly hit me just how homesick Dimitri really was.

I watched Dimitri reunite from his family in silence. I couldn't help but feel jealous as I saw the obvious love between all of them and compared it to my family – he didn't like his father, but at least knew him, his mother seemed like what every mother should be like, instead of an absent, legendary figure you hardly knew, and he wasn't an only child. His family was better than mine in any and all respects.

Eventually, the two youngest looking girls started stealing glances in my direction and whispering in hushed Russian.

"Vic, 'Laina. Don't," Dimitri said, glaring at his two younger sisters. By now the other three were looking at me curiously. He leaned over and said something in Russian to his mother who passed it to the others.

"So this is Roza," The oldest one said. "Dimitri has done nothing but talk about you lately." She smirked like she was teasing him about it.

"_Talya_," Dimitri said, bordering on whining.

"_Dimka_," Natalya said, imitating his tone perfectly. It sounded like they did it a lot growing up. She turned to me and her smirk faded into a smile. She pointed to each sister as she said their name. "Nikita, Victoria and Elaina; Vickie and 'Laina are step-sisters."

"Do you…?" I asked, trailing off, feeling a little rude asking the question.

"Do I speak fluent English?" Natalya asked, her Russian accent giving her words a slightly hollow, yet liquid-like sound. She laughed and shook her head. "I told Dimitri that he might play translator for while until everyone got used to it. You and Russian?"

I pulled out my Russian-English dictionary and chuckled, slightly shaking my head. "This is as fluent as it gets." I noticed that Dimitri had put everything into the trunk already. His mom said something to him in Russian so rapid, I don't think I ever spoke English that fast in my life. And to my unending surprise, Dimitri replied back just as fast, if not faster.

"You don't mind it being a little small, do you Rose?" Dimitri asked me as Victoria and Elaina disappeared in the back. I smiled tight lipped.

"Not at all," I said, swallowing a grimace at the sight of the inside of it.

"Maybe things are just a little too luxurious for our little American friend," Nikita said snottily. Her mother smacked her on the upper arm and started reprimanding her in more rapid Russian. His mother got in the passenger seat and Natalya sat in the driver's seat. The rest of us in the back didn't bother with the seatbelts as everyone was sitting on each other.

"So you finally learned how to drive, Natalya?" Dimitri asked his older sister. She nodded and chuckled, replying in Russian. It seemed to be easier for her right now.

"What'd she say?" I asked Dimitri, whose lap I was literally sitting on.

"She said that after I left, there was no sense in only having one person that knew how to drive. Ironic, really. Natalya opposed the first car the most."

"She said all of that in under a second?" I asked.

"She's the second fastest speaker in the family," Dimitri said, protectively snaking his arm around my waist.

"Who's the first? You?" I asked, turning just a little to look up at him. He nodded and I snorted. "You really can do everything," I said quietly, turning back around. The car was silent for a few minutes, and then we entered what looked like a tiny little village of a condensed version of Queens, New York – brick houses, about one story high, maybe 120 feet by 40 feet lined up by the dozen on street after street. We turned into the driveway of one of the rare houses that had two levels; this was after I'd seen enough brick to last me a lifetime. I watched Nikita almost fly out of the car before it was even turned off.

"She really doesn't like me," I noted to Dimitri as he went around to the trunk to get our stuff.

"I told you so," Dimitri said, shrugging his shoulders. Effortlessly, he pulled out my suitcase (which by far was way heavier than his) and I got too distracted watching his biceps flex that I didn't hear his mother calling my name.

"Huh?" I asked, turning towards her. She seemed to fumble for the right words but then finally found them.

"Call me Anya," She said slowly, to which I nodded in acceptance.

"Anya," I repeated softly, which felt comfortable, normal and foreign all at the same time. Anya smiled and nodded vigorously, like she was happy that I could say it properly. Elaina called something to her in Russian and sounded distressed, and Anya scurried off to go deal with the problem, whatever it was. Dimitri came up behind me and handed me the backpack.

"She's going to make your mother seem like Antarctica when we go back," Dimitri said softly. I didn't tell him that she always felt colder than Antarctica to me except for the past few months. "C'mon, you have to see the inside. It's bigger than it looks." I grunted in response and wheeled my bag towards where Dimitri was solving some sort of problem with the lock. It got so bad, and him being so tall, he actually had to squat down to be able to get the key in, twist it, and open the door.

"I keep telling her we need a new lock," Natalya muttered, a bit exasperated. Dimitri let everyone else in, including me, and then shut the door behind him.

"Home sweet home," He murmured, like he was taking in his surroundings, and didn't seem bothered by the fact that he repeated the most over used cliché of time.

Being inside that house, I let the wild, insane jealousy take over me. It was perfect.

"Sorry, brother dearest, but I am kidnapping Rose for the time being," Natalya taunted Dimitri and politely took my bags from me. Dimitri childishly stuck his tongue out at her and wandered up the stairs. Natalya turned to me and started up the stairs at the same time carrying both bags.

"You do not mind sharing room with me, right?"

"No, not at all," I said, looking at the pictures that were all hung up on the wall above the staircase. At the bottom were pictures of babies and toddlers, and it looked like the pictures held Natalya, Nikita and Dimitri growing up, and then eventually they started including Elaina and Victoria when they moved in with them. We went up another flight of stairs to the attic.

"Must be cold in the winter," I mused, dropping down on the unmade bed. Natalya smiled.

"It does. Very cold," Natalya said, propping up my suitcase and backpack against the foot of my bed. I could feel my eyes droop. Natalya chuckled at the sight of me.

"I let you sleep now," She said and moved towards the door.

"Thanks," I mumbled and was in the deepest sleep of my life by the time my head hit the pillow.

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**Chapaters 7/8 up this weekend. **

**No offense to Metallica fans who read this. That's my opinion. It's my story.**

**Thanks to everyone who gave me ideas and responded to the polls. I'm aiming at about 20 chapters right now, with a major double cliffy. (Yes, two cliffies in the last chapter, meaning that I'm going to take about 2 weeks off after I finish this one to give my brain a break if I can stand not writing that long. You all are going to kill me.)**

**Green button pressing begins now!**

**Shout-outs:  
None. I've yet to figure out which ones I'm going to put in here and which ones I'm going to reply to. It'll take me a while.**


	7. Chapter 7

**I'M SO BEHIND ON REVIEWS; I'M SO SORRY FOR THAT!! My life's a little crazy right now going back to school, so getting this chapter up is a miracle. Sorry if it's not up to par and if it's later than expected!!!**

**Summary changed. It needed a little change of its own.**

**Round of thanks to the guys who created music of any type. I've listened to so many different inspirations, if I listed them all, you'd get _so_**** bored. So the chapter it is!**

**DISCLAIMER: Richelle Mead owns the rocking VA series and its awesome characters.**

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I slept for 26 hours. And when I found this out after waking up, I was beyond ticked off.

Okay, so it was with myself for oversleeping ever so much and wasting a complete day. Natalya (who told me to start calling her "Nat" as the American nickname no one around here would call here) just laughed it of and showed me a picture on her cell phone she took right after I fell asleep - there was no way you couldn't say that I was so beyond dead on my feet, Pluto was my best friend. The miffed feeling faded to annoyance since the picture bordered stalking. But Nat had said that it made Dimitri laugh, so it wasn't _too_ too bad.

And right before I knew it, a week had suddenly disappeared beneath me. Dimitri, though a lot more comfortable being in his own home and everything, still kept the stoic exterior up except for the rare few moments we found when it was just us. The Friday after we got there (so roughly, 7/8 days or so), however, Dimitri had a surprise or two hidden up his sleeve he was staying tight-lipped about.

It was right after breakfast, and although I was technically a guest, I was considered family the day after I recovered my extensive jetlag - which in turn meant that I was now forced to be added into the cycle of family chores, including dishes (no automatic dishwasher, everything has to be done by hand), laundry (again, no machines, and I felt like someone out of 1965, hanging the clothes on the line that was connected to another neighbor's house right next door), cooking (they did at least have a range), just the start. I got the oh-so-wonderful task of meal clean-up.

The fancy term for dishes.

Dimitri was practically bouncing, and dropped several bowls he was supposed to dry and not break - nothing broke, thankfully - and wouldn't tell me why he was acting the way he was acting.

"You might want to tell her, or else she might get jealous of Kozak," Nat said lazily, not bothering to really put any meaning in her words. We'd had some late night "girl nights" of sorts - Nat and I traded languages, so her English was improving quickly.

"Darya's not a problem," Dimitri snapped, slamming a bowl down.

"Whatever you say, brother dearest, just don't break that bowl. You know how Momma gets."

Dimitri childishly stuck his tongue out at her and set the bowl down roughly. "Don't listen to her," he advised, drying his own hands.

"Too bad I already do," I said, turning the water off. Dimitri sighed.

"That girl is evil, I tell you, evil." Dimitri spat the last word forcefully.

"To you, she's the evil older sister. To me, she's the best friend I wish I had," I said, and turned on my heel, walking out of the kitchen briskly.

"Look, how many times do I have to tell you Rose, it's partially your fault that Lissa's mad at you?" Dimitri asked, exasperated. I stopped on the stairs and turned around. It took all I had not to scream.

"But you could've said something while you were watching me crash and burn in not telling her," I shot back. Dimitri took a warning step up towards me.

"You didn't crash and burn as you claim, and you have always learned best by failing and learning from your mistakes. I pull you back when you're close to completely blowing up into a million pieces." I took three steps down.

"Why? Why not let me crash and burn anyway? You said so yourself, I learn better by messing up badly and then fixing things."

Dimitri swallowed and avoided my gaze, leaning on the banister.

"So you can't even tell me," I said coldly and turned back around to keep going upstairs.

"Rose," Dimitri said again, but I kept going. When I was just about at the top, Dimitri grabbed my arm and spun me around on the landing.

"I do it because I care about you," Dimitri said. I rolled my eyes.

"Like I haven't heard that before," I replied, not bothering to keep the venom out of my tone. Suddenly, Dimitri was on the landing with me, his lips heavy and fast against mine. Taken aback, I didn't do anything for a few seconds except pray that my brain would speed up the registering process. Eventually, it registered, and I was able to kiss back just as well. I heard someone walk past.

"I thought I heard yelling," Nat commented and moved on like we were nothing but a mere household broom or its equivalent. Dimitri had me pushed back, up and against the wall and broke away; he kept his face near mine, though.

"Shut up Talya, if you want to see tomorrow," Dimitri growled, turning his head a little.

Natalya spun around and crouched down on the stairs a little, so she could see us below the sloping roof. "Oh, I'm_ so _scared," Nat mocked, shaking her hands rolling her eyes, laughing, and taking off for her room, not the least bit worried that Dimitri might actually come after her.

"Are you two always like that?" I asked, the question having burned inside for so long. Dimitri leaned his forehead against mine and sighed and laughed at the same time. He shook his head a little.

"Always have been, and most likely will be. She hasn't been the most helpful lately." He seemed to hesitate at my arched eyebrow. He pulled his head back, kissing my forehead in the same fluid motion. "I've had something that I've been working on lately that requires her help with her knowing you pretty well now; to say the least, she hasn't been cooperative or helpful. Well, in her own way. Most people would say that she is being helpful, but I've known her my entire life, so..." Dimitri trailed off, letting me finish his sentence for him.

Something about me. My mind spun at what it could be. It could've been anything in the world, but the vibe I was starting to feel told me to keep quiet and not ask questions. That seemed to be a popular saying around here.

"So anyway, you've always wanted to know what I was like growing up, right? That would be along the correct lines of your thinking, right?"

I swallowed, nodding. It was times like these that creeped me out, how much Dimitri could see into me. Dimitri leaned against the wall, his right hand and arm right next to my head, touching the wall.

"Well, something came up, so most of my old crew is in town today, and it might be the last time we're all a giant group for a while. Plus, I'd really like to see them," Dimitri added, sliding his left hand in his jeans pocket.

"So where would this meeting place be?" I asked, elated about the fact that I would finally know another piece to Dimitri's past. Dimitri smiled and kissed my forehead again.

"Thank you Roza; you have no idea how much this means to me. It's at a local hotel restaurant in Irkutsk. You won't get too bored, right?" Dimitri looked at me with concern.

"Chill, Comrade, these people were - are - friends with you. They have to be the slightest bit interesting to keep up with you," I said, punching him in the shoulder. He pushed off the wall, almost giving it a dent. He feigned hurt, holding his shoulder.

"That hurt, Rose," Dimitri said, trying to unsuccessfully hold back smile.

"Idiot," I muttered, and then looked up at him. "That so did not hurt."

"Yes it did. Very much, I might add," Dimitri said, grabbing my coat that I had thrown on the back of the couch last night. He lithely tossed it to me - with the arm that was supposedly hurt, no less. Dimitri seemed to realize this, and he faked a wince.

"Stop pretending, Dimitri, or the first thing out of my mouth will be how much of a wuss you are now compared to back then. You wouldn't want that, right?" I asked, pulling my hair out of the back of the coat. I ran my hand over it, ponytail-style to get rid of the static. Dimitri looked horror-stricken.

"You wouldn't," Dimitri whispered, slowly putting his own coat on.

"Try me. I don't give a second thought to hurting people at school and what the implications might be, what would hold me back right now? I'll shout it when we step out that door if I have to," I teased, pointing to the door. Dimitri looked like he might faint. "Fine, dude, I won't. I'll keep my pretty little mouth shut and only rave about how you've created a pretty good badass out of me, the pathetic little girl who ran away and had to quickly catch up on two and half years or education that I missed. Happy?"

Dimitri shook his head. "No need for dramatics; 'Laina, could you tell everyone else that Rose and I left?" Dimitri asked his younger sister, ushering me out the door. She apparently agreed, because as Dimitri was closing the door, she was shouting in Russian to the whole house.

"So how long should we be here?" I asked, as Dimitri threw the car into reverse.

"I don't know, a couple of hours? Besides, where are you going to go, back to the academy? I'd put my money on the fact that you'd rather that place be buried in hell than go back there at the end of this trip," Dimitri said, swerving to avoid a car. I felt like this was a movie, and Dimitri was so badass he didn't have to even keep his full attention on the road while he talked to me.

I shrugged. "There are a lot of places I'd rather be, you know like the beach or somewhere warm? Fifty is kind of cold for me."

"This is actually a heat wave," Dimitri admitted. I noticed his Russian accent was much more pronounced being in Russia again.

"Really? What's it normally?" I asked, actually curious.

"About ten degrees colder, if you're talking Fahrenheit, only four or so Celsius," Dimitri told me, parking in a parking lot in front of a three-story building. He shut the car off, but looked down at the keys instead of getting out. He looked up at me, face and eyes blank.

"Well here goes nothing," I joked, and got out of the car before the awkward moment could further continue.

I had no idea how true my words were.

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**Chapters 8/9 up this week.**

**New Poll Time!  
I need Russian male names! If you think hard about what I'm asking you for, you'll figure out what the next chapter is.**

**Green button pressing begins now!**

**Shout-outs:  
None. Read A/N at top.**


	8. Chapter 8

**DISCLAIMER: Richelle Mead owns the rocking VA series and its awesome characters.**

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I didn't understand the point of sending me alone into a major Russian city only knowing the bare minimum of the language, but then again, I noticed Nikita didn't like me very much. At the last second, just to help me out, Nat came along at the last second. We had to go egt _something_ for dinner that night, and I was clueless on not only the language, but what heck Russians even ate.

"So what's the connection between you, Nikita and Dimitri and Elaina and Victoria?" I asked as Nat dropped a bag of flour into the tiny cart. It had been bugging me for a while.

"Half-sisters," Nat said, muttering in Russian about something with fruit. "Well, technically, so is Nikita, but her father is from the same family as Dimka and my father's, so we just count her as part of our own family. Why do you ask?"

I stared at her, open-mouthed at how perfect her English was, but I collected myself after a few seconds and weird look from Nat. "Dimitri said he only had two sisters," I replied lamely.

"He actually talked about us?" Nat laughed, shaking her head. "You and Tasha are the only two that can break down his...oh, what's the word for mask?"

"_Facade_," I supplied, doing a U-turn to get to the mushrooms. _At least they ate recognizable food_, I thought, resisting the urge to tap my fingers.

"Oh, right! You and Tasha are the only two who can break down his facade. Is it supposed to feel that weird on your tongue?" Nat looked at me, putting her hands on her hips as if she were trying to figure it out on her own.

"Only to someone who speaks a Slavic language. It's French last I checked."

"Huh," Nat said, and then scrambled to get her cell phone. "What?" She snapped in Russian. Whoever was on the other end sounded frantic, from the look on her face. She started to yell quietly to get them to calm down, and looked over at me.

"Yes, she can. Five minutes, we'll be home." Nat kept looking at me. "Dimitri," She said, covering the end of the phone after seeing the look on my face. Suddenly, I went into panic mode. What was Dimitri freaking out about? Last time he did freak out, it was...I forced myself to stop thinking about that sequence of horrid memories. There was no way it was happening again.

I was brought back to the present by Nat snapping her phone open and closed in front of my face several times.

"We have to get home. You are going back to America," Nat said simply, forcefully taking the cart from me, while I stood rooted to the spot. "You coming?" Nat called back, still muttering in Russian under her breath.

"Yeah," I said, fast walking to catch up with her.

Everything seemed to move a sped-up slow-motion; it was like I was moving at 10 miles an hour, while everyone else was going 10 times that. It was a weird sensation I didn't break out of until I was halfway home.

"Hey, Dimitri, can I get any sort of details on what's going on here? I feel like I've been left in the dark," I said.

"I can't tell you much; however, there is some that I can tell you that wouldn't be breaking the rules," Dimitri said, slightly distracted. He finished off the text he was writing out and sighed, looking ahead.

"Screw the rules," I muttered, looking out the window.

"There's an impending attack on the school, just like last time. Except this time, there was a warning."

"What kind of warning? A leaf saying 'We're coming to attack you. Be prepared to go down?'" I said, full-on smartass mode now.

"Lissa's in critical condition right now," Dimitri said, still looking ahead, and I became reserved again.

"You mean..." I said, trailing off, not wanting to believe it.

"Knowing you and how you think, yes, they did. I would believe that you owe Ivashkov an apology when we get back," Dimitri added.

The urge to get off the plane and run there hit me, but I then felt extremely guilty. The last time I had even looked at her, we were fighting over my keeping a huge secret from her. The last thing she probably remembered about me was that I told her to change because I didn't like the way she was acting.

I shook my head. It was stupid to feel that way, to even think that way. I wasn't in a book or movie - this was real life, and thinking like that wouldn't help her any more than how she already was.

When we finally landed and I was free of the Academy's private jet, I didn't go immeadiately to the med clinic. I needed to go find Adrian, Christian, or at least someone who knew what was really going on. I dropped off my stuff at my room, noting that everyone was on lockdown except for the senior dhampirs.

"Eddie," I hissed, coming up behind him.

"'S 'bout time you showed up," Eddie mumbled, not looking at me.

"What's going on?" I asked. "I mean, I know about the attack looming and Lissa, but what's going on with the novices?"

"Seniors are informally part of the staff for now, until the attack's over."

"And how do the Strigoi plan on getting through?" I asked, reaching for the concealed stake in my coat from the last attack.

"The note attached to Lissa mentioned using humans," Eddie said, and then closed up. I had a feeling that I should move on if I wanted any other info.

As I stalked off to the med clinic (I had a strong feeling both Adrian Christian were there), it didn't add up in my head. From the sounds of it, it sounded like the Strigoi had mauled Lissa and then included a note that pretty much told us their plan. Why would they do that? The Strigoi were smarter than to tell us their plan. Maybe it would become clearer when I saw the note.

Inside, I didn't even look at Dr. Olendzki when I passed her.

"She's on the second floor," Dr. Olendzki called out, leaving me to infer I knew who she was talking about.

I bounded up the stairs four at a time and got to Lissa's room before I had a chance to register any thoughts about the clinic itself.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Adrian asked me when I slammed the door behind me. I tossed the black leather coat onto one of the chairs and noticed that Christian wasn't there. Probably going out of his mind in the Moroi dorms. I was honestly surprised to see that Adrian was there and not trapped like rats with everyone else.

"Does that matter right now?" I snapped, looking over at Lissa. She looked as good as dead, though the heart monitor beeped otherwise.

"What do you want?" Adrian said defensively, reading more into me than I felt comfortable.

"To see the note. I'm assuming since you are Adrian Ivashkov, that you would know where it is."

"There's no way in hell you'll be able to get to it by yourself," Adrian said.

"Exactly why I need your help. In or not? It might help me figure out everything," I added, not totally sure that my theory I was going on right now would work.

"And who appointed you to solve the Strigoi's master plan?" Adrian retorted.

"Would you rather go to Lissa's graduation or funeral?" I had cornered Adrian at last, and rejoiced on the inside at my new accomplishment.

"Alberta's office. No guarantees that she's patrolling." Adrian looked absolutely livid and sober.

"Thank you. If you want, you can come," I prompted, backing up and grabbing my jacket at the same time. Adrian shook his head.

"I'd rather keep my ass out of trouble, if I were you," Adrian advised.

"But I'm not you, am I?" I asked, and disappeared through the door.

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**Sorry for the short length. My muse is failing me today and I really need to get an update out there.**

**Review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Only one chapter after this! I know, I'm sad, too, but due to several circumstances, the story feels like it should end here.**

**HOWEVER! A companion story to _If It Were A Perfect World_**** will be coming out in a month, after I have 10 chapters to match this 10-chapter story and have devoted a little bit more time to my other FanFics, because I've started and neglected them. I also have an interesting Twilight/Charmed crossover plot that I'm excited to start working on soon, so I'll need the time to accurately draw up the final plot and final OOC characters to get the story out by the end of April.**

**I'm also currently drawing up a plot for another VA story that's post-Shadow Kiss, so I'm not completely abandoning the Vampire Academy world. August is too far away to not write anymore VA stuff.**

**Anyway, that's all to tell you, ONE MORE CHAPTER!**

**DISCLAIMER: Richelle Mead owns the rocking VA series and its awesome characters.**

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The place was a mess. The academy's being ambushed was worse than the last time and it was hard to think of anything else other than "Don't get yourself killed, Rose" as I ran and dodged Strigoi on the way to the guardian's headquarters. I paused for a quick second of trying to breathe a little more evenly once I got on the other side of the HQ's doors.

I held my breath, not knowing if some Strigoi was in the building waiting to attack someone stupid enough to go in there. When I heard nothing but the cries from outside - I was pretty sure all of my friends with the exception of Adrian and Lissa were fighting - I gingerly took a step forward and held another bated breath. When I heard nothing inside again, I quietly tiptoed across the hall over to Alberta's office. I got to the window and saw a shadow moving behind the door. Letting out a tiny scream of surprise, I dropped to the floor and crawled around the nearby corner. Someone opened to the door, but quickly closed it.

I hoped they hadn't heard me, because the nauseous feeling that accompanied the presence of nearby Strigoi hit me full force. If I had been standing up, I was positive that I would've fallen over.

Swallowing to myself, I quietly stood up, trying to be ready to run if the circumstances arose to my running away from pain or death. This time, however, I took my time taking the six steps (I had the time to count, sadly enough) to Alberta's office. I had to stop halfway to make sure I didn't throw up for real.

I silently dropped to the ground and pressed my ear up against the door to try to figure out who was in there.

"I don't think this is necessary, Master," someone said, and I would bet anything it was a Strigoi - and the guy who was organizing this whole mess was probably his Master of sorts. Whatever their hierarchy was.

"It is absolutely necessary, Andrew. Think about the possibilities if we finally succeed in getting Belikov on our side. We've already got one of his sisters just about ready to wake up, and she was strong enough to begin with..." the Strigoi trailed off, a hint of nostalgia in his voice. I hoped that they had gotten Nikita, as much as it would devastate Dimitri.

"Hathaway would never allow it. You saw her personally last time. She went just about crazy, killing off three of our best in an attempt to get Belikov out of our grasp," Andrew said.

"Hathaway can be taken care of. Or, if you would prefer, become one of us. I think she'd be one of our best, right alongside Belikov."

There was a deathly silence as someone shrieked loudly outside. Andrew's master spoke to break to silence.

"We'll let her stay human."

"Why?" Andrew asked, clearly confused. I almost pulled back from the door, confused myself. Why would they let me stay human.

"Well, we know about her..._intimate_ relationship with Belikov, for lack of a better term. We'll exploit her, tell the world about her and Belikov, and take it from there." It didn't sound like they planned far in advance.

"Who would believe us? We'd be trying to exploit her secrets to out enemy. They'd never believe us in a million years. Never. It would never work as you plan," Andrew added. It sounded like he was starting to pace.

"We will have a secret weapon, if our ambitions tonight play out as planned," the master said, clearly emphasizing each syllable.

"So our ultimate goal is to have Hathaway crawled up in a hole because the Moroi and dhampirs wouldn't dream of forgiving her for this?" Andrew asked, confused yet again. He sounded young and I couldn't help laughing to myself on the inside.

"Our ultimate goal, Andrew," the Strigoi said, spitting Andrew's name out, "Is to have Belikov on our side and Hathaway willing to do anything for us as a dhampir."

"Why keep Hathaway as is?"

"Because she'll be our way in. You've heard the rumors. She'll be Dragomir's guardian come graduation, and Dragomir's headed straight for the court. If we have someone able to get into the court secretly, then we'll have the crucial information we need."

I had to stop this crazy nonsense. I reminded myself that they were idiots to talk so openly about their grand plan as I stood up and prepared to walk in during their little...chat.

I realized I had missed a little bit of the conversation when I heard Andrew's master mutter something about exploiting me carefully so I'd still have court access. I threw open the door midsentence and strolled in, careful not to show my uneasiness.

"And look who arrived; just in time, too," one of the men said, looking over in the corner. Dimitri sat there, tied up, beaten and bloodied, while I racked my brain trying to figure out where I knew the older Strigoi from. Dimitri looked up when he saw me enter, but quickly drew his eyes downward.

"Oh really? You both do realize that I've now heard your entire plan, so if you want to keep me a dhampir, you put that whole plan at risk?" I asked, full-on smartass. I was beginning to notice that I did that whenever I got nervous or uncomfortable about a situation.

"Nonsense, child, that's just the beginning. Just a tiny step in our overall scheme," blondie said. And suddenly it clicked.

Damn, he was the Strigoi that tried to change Dimitri last time, but failed. I could imagine his ego was bruised after that nasty blow.

"Huh," I said, putting one hand on my hip and the other reaching up the back of my coat for my stake. I could take them by surprise and stab Andrew (who was to the left of me) in a quick second if I were faster enough. Then there was Blondie to deal with if I got Andrew down....

Recognition crossed both Strigoi's faces and they jumped me at the same time. I had barely pulled out my stake when Andrew was on top of me, with the older Strigoi standing close to the two of us, but off to side. I had managed to elbow Andrew right underneath the right half of his ribcage, causing him to jump off of me. Standing up and stabbing Andrew in the heart by surprise in swift motion, I turned onto the other Strigoi.

I realized that I needed to learn his name before I went crazy calling him everything but his own name. It'd be a good distraction if he were to fall for it the slightest bit.

"So what's your name?" I challenged, holding the stake out in front of me like a sword.

"Like I would ever tell you, Hathaway," the Strigoi spat, and he cleanly dodged the stake and slapped me across the face from my right side, pushing me against the wall. The arm holding my stake was crushed into the side of my body as he pressed up against me.

"Pretty please?" I asked. He pushed harder into me.

"Cherry on top?" I said, smartass mode on fully. He roughly grabbed the side of my face and smashed my face into the wall, causing my nose to start bleeding.

"You dhampirs disgust me," he muttered. He walked behind Alberta's desk, threw himself into the chair, spun around twice and then tapped his fingers on the desk, leaning forward. "I hope you realize I am showing you a great deal of mercy. I could have killed you already, but I'm giving your little lover boy here some entertainment before I take out the both of you."

Something snapped. I sprang across the room, reached over the desk and stabbed the stake at the old Strigoi. He leaned to the side and narrowly missed it. It was in this moment I was glad that Strigoi couldn't touch silver stakes.

"Nice reflexes. You'd make a good-" he started to say, but I caught his one moment of his shield being down to take advantage of it and got him straight in the heart. He looked surprised and then slumped forward.

It was quiet. There weren't any screams from the outside and I was puzzled as to why it was so easy to kill the Strigoi. I shrugged it off and rushed over to Dimitri. He made no effort to complain or try to do it himself while I unbound and ungagged him.

"C'mon, let's get you over to the med clinic," I muttered and wrapping a heavy arm around my shoulders, we began the long arduous task of walking from Alberta's office to the med clinic and to see what damage had been inflicted along the way.

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**Review!**

**Just to take up one last moment of your time (you must be getting bored of me by now), I'd like to point out that while I love getting reviews and absolutely fall head-over-heels for constructive criticism (props to LaLaLovely 27 here; you're doing good for me and the story), please, please, please, PLEASE do _not_ get judgmental of my writing and story and the way I keep the story moving, especially when flames come from those who are just here to read FanFiction and create favorite stories list and have no intention of writing. I understand that my writing is a far cry from perfect or being fame-worthy like some authors on FF and that not everyone is satisfied with a certain chapter or my interpretation of a character, so if you have this dying urge to tell me that my work is awful, keep it to yourself. It'll make for a better story.**

**Now that I've put my two cents in about that topic, one chapter after this and then we take a little break! I know, I'm upset too, but PM me for a sneak peek of the first chapter of the companion story to this story, _This Would Be A Reality_, if you want one!**


	10. Chapter 10

**I thought I was going to update, but since it's been way over a month and my muse is currently being focused on a seperate project that I hoped to get published in the real world, I'm ending it.  
I know, I could write more, but my heart's just not into it, and it's a good cliffhanger - you can imagine for yourself what happens to everyone. We all know what Rose had intended to do.**

**Anyway, thank you SO MUCH to everyone who reviewed and offered critique on the story. The sidequel, This Would Be a Reality, will be up June 5, 2009. That's about 3 weeks away or so.  
With the end of school, my story, other FanFics that I've been dying to start, and a whole lot of other things, I've decided to make you all wait another month.  
Again, if you want a sneak peek of the first chapter, PM me. As always, I'm looking to beta for people since I now have enough free time to do that again (as busy as I may seem).**

**I'm also changing my pen name soon to Jaro-ship. If you don't what Jaro is, PM me. If you don't agree with it, I'll have a blast freaking you out. :] (But not really.)**

**Peace, Love, Vampires,**

**Jaro-ship**

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**Gah! So, This Would Be A Reality is up! I've got, like, 7 reviews last I checked on it, and a ton of traffic, so go check it out! There's a new character (to the series) introduced that will majorly affect the outcome of the whole thing.**

**Peace, Love, Vampires,**

**Jaro-ship**


	11. Chapter 11

**Gah! So, This Would Be A Reality is up! I've got, like, 7 reviews last I checked on it, and a ton of traffic, so go check it out! There's a new character (to the series) introduced that will majorly affect the outcome of the whole thing.**

**So, I know I said that I was stopping the story, bbbbbbbbbbbbbbuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuttttttttttttttttttttt, **

**_Eta Carinae1_ inspired me to continue. It's only two or three chapters, but you can go check out her review on the review page.**

**Usual disclaimers apply.**

* * *

"Long time, no see, stranger," Dr. Olendzki said as I pushed open one of the doors to the clinic. Dimitri and I were pretty much supporting one another and only came across one Strigoi in the short walk from Alberta's office to the med clinic. Of course, they were dead now.

I grunted in response to took Dimitri's arm from around my neck - he'd broken his ankle in the middle of getting captured - and shoved it away a little too roughly. He looked at me in surprise, but I ignored the look and threw myself in the closest empty chair. My head was ready to split in two and I needed to get off my feet. I looked up at Dr. Olendzki; she looked surprise, but covered it up with a nervous smile.

"I'll get you into a room, as soon as I find one that's clear, Guardian Belikov. Let me go check, and you can wait..." Dr. Olendzki said. It looked like she was really nervous about the whole situation and turned on her heel and left in search of a room.

Dimitri sat in the hard, plastic chair next to me in what made up their "waiting room" and I felt his eyes on me, trying to figure me out.

"What?" I snapped, glaring at him, but it took a lot on my brain, especially with the lights being right above his head. I wouldn't be surprised if I had a nice little concussion.

"Nothing," Dimitri said quietly. "You just look ready to kill someone."

"If it's anything, my head feels like a nuclear bomb went off inside. Maybe Christian can walk in now and make some snide remark about my always having been a mushroom head," I said bitterly, not caring that the joke was extremely awful as far as jokes went.

Dimitri didn't say anything for a few minutes. I felt like I really was going to throw up - it was a different kind of nauseous, not like the nauseous feeling I got if Strigoi were nearby or I had eaten in 24 hours. There were subtle differences. With the kind I was feeling, normally my mouth would well up with extra saliva to help get all of my stomach's contents out of my mouth much more easily.

I brought my knees up to my chest and rested them on the edge of the chair. I rested my head on my knees and squeezed my eyes shut, willing the crappy feelings to go away. I heard Dimitri suck in a breath to say something when Dr. Olendzki's footsteps filled the unusually quiet air.

"I could only find one empty room, so you and Rose will have to share. Obviously you two will be separated by a curtain or something, but since it looks like you two are pretty much in the same condition and all the other rooms have at least three in them, it's the only thing I can do."

"That will be fine. I'm sure Miss Hathaway won't mind," Dimitri said quietly, and once again, I could feel him looking at me. I was curious as to why he was suddenly so stiff and formal. I mean, everyone knew about our relationship, so why did he try hiding it now?

I felt Dimitri tug my arm up a little bit and I numbly walked next to his limping, my head screaming in protest. We walked into a room, and I was put in the bed near the window. Dr. Olendzki said something to Dimitri, but I didn't catch what before my body finally succumbed to my head's wishes and I passed out.

I don't know how long I stayed like that, but it must have been long enough for Dimitri to be released because when I finally did come to, he was sitting next to me with Adrian leaning against the wall at the end of the bed.

"One week," Adrian said, and I could hear the slur in his words. "You've been out for one week, although by the third day they pretty much kept you sedated so you wouldn't feel the pain. Or, at least that's what lover-boy said here." Adrian jerked his chin at Dimitri and - surprise, surprise - extracted a flask of vodka from his coat pocket and took a long swig. I looked over at Dimitri.

"What is he doing here?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

"It's his shift," Dimitri said, and at my confused expression, explained, "Your friends have taken it upon themselves to watch you in hour-long shifts."

"Me, Eddie, Lissa, Christian," Adrian supplied and followed up his words with a smelly belch. "Sorry."

Dimitri scrunched up his nose for a second when the smell wafted over to us. "And I nearly lost my job by staying here for the past week without breaks. You wouldn't believe the fight Alberta and I had about my duties and prioritizing correctly. Apparently there's been a lot of clean-up going on that I skipped out on by sitting here."

"Thank you," I said weakly and turned back to stare up at the ceiling. "I don't think I want to know about the fight."

"You don't," Dimitri chuckled and looked at me seriously.

"You might as well tell her and get it over with," Adrian slurred.

"What?" I asked, raising my head ever so slightly to look from Adrian to Dimitri. And that's when I felt it. A cold breeze rushed in from the open window and my scalp felt frozen the cold. I moved to reach up and touch the top of my head, but I didn't have the strength.

"The doctors did a scan of your brain," Dimitri explained as I fell back to the bed (the whole two centimeters). "I think they called it an MRI. Anyway, they found that your skull was cracked and that there was some scratches to your brain, but nothing too severe. They had to rush you into an emergency surgery and had to cut most of your hair off in the process. It should grow back soon, though." He looked extremely distraught as he told me what had happened.

Damn that Strigoi throwing my head against the wall so many times.

"If it makes you feel better, you look really good with a boy-style cut," Adrian said drunkenly and Dimitri's eyes threw daggers at him.

"Oh, well, it's not like there's anything I can do," I said softly, upset that most of my hair was gone. It was one of the few things I had going for me my entire life. It was well down towards my waist, and I had worked years to get it that length. I guess my heart monitor picked up speed and caused some sort of reaction, because then I felt a sedative medicine start working it's way into my system and I was out, once again.

Goddammit. Did everyone want me knocked out?


	12. Chapter 12

**Usual disclaimers apply.**

**Thanks to James Blunt and the band Yes (back when they had Jon Anderson!) for enough inspiration to make me sit down at the computer at 1 AM and get this done when I should be asleep and worried about my vacation. Luv ya readers! :]**

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I woke up sometime later in my own room. Apparently Dr. Olendzki let Lissa heal me - which surprised me - and discharged me. Why Lissa waited a while to heal me was beyond Dimitri, but that's the story I got when I woke up.

"Great," I muttered, and sat up. "Any chance Christian is willing to spill?"

Dimitri shook his head and stood up, pushing my desk chair back underneath the desk.

"Why not?" I whined childishly.

"Christian will always side with Lissa. Lissa may have healed you, but she still doesn't forgive you and it may take years for her to overcome that grudge. For all we know, she may never fully get over it. Therefore, Christian will see it this way for Lissa and probably won't say anything, for fear that Lissa could pry it out of him and get mad at him, too."

"Ugh," I groaned. "Information overload. Thanks a lot, Comrade."

Dimitri repressed a glare and walked over to the door. "Graduation practice is in a half an hour."

"So what, you come in here to make sure I wake up in time for graduation practice?" I cried, shocked on the inside that it was already here. It felt like it was my birthday just yesterday.

But Dimitri didn't answer me. He just walked out of the room, shutting the door softly behind him.

Cursing silently to myself, I got out of bed, biting my lower lip at the pain that tore through my right knee and hobbled around the room, throwing on what I to be reasonable clothes. (Meaning I wore sweats and a tank top and still managed to somehow look like a hooker. Or, at least, that's what Eddie said later when I walked into the Gym.)

The ceremony was being held in the Gym (nobody seemed to know why, except Kirova, Alberta, and Stan, and none of them looked like they were planning on spilling any time soon), and the recption in the cafeteria, which was where the novices would get the official tattoos that made us guardians. It was also the time we would be assigned the Moroi would we be the guardians of.

Practices lasted about a week, which was also the time in which all of my friends got to party and hang out and sleep till noon and I got to sit in my room and finish up all of the schoolwork that I managed to miss. Dimitri would occasionally stop by to make sure I was actually working.

"Why do I have to do this?" I complained that Thursday. It was two nights before the actual graduation ceremony would take place. All of the parents were flying or being flown in the next day, my mother included.

"Be glad that you're actually graduating and they're not making you wait another year."

"But they can't do that! I'm supposed to be Lissa's guardian!" The pencil in my hand snapped; I knew where the conversation was going, since we'd had it so many times, but I felt like going down the path one last time. I mean, itwas probably the last time I could without being assigned to (hopefully and most likely) Lissa.

"Yes they can, Rose." Dimitri shook his head.

The path can always have last minute changes, can't it? In my book it can.

"Then I'd drop out and go move into the Royal Court with her. If I can't be her guardian, then I'll just be her best friend who happens to be attached to her hip all of the time." I grinned wickedly and twirled around once in my desk chair.

"Finish the essay, Rose, and then get some sleep. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you're going crazy." Dimitri shut the door and I could hear him walking away. I jumped up and threw my door open, sticking my head into the hallway. He was at the end of the hall.

"I already went crazy before, remember?" I called out. Dimitri stopped and turned around. I could barely make out the tiny smile on his face, the one that was more in his eyes than the rest of his face.

"Interesting times, indeed," Dimitri said. The joke underneath the sarcasm was buried so deep, anybody listening in would have a hard time figuring it out. I knew he meant the joke for me.

I stuck my tongue out at him, hoping he could say it, and I watched his back face me again and turn the corner to the stairs. Satisfied, I pulled back into my room and shut the door, ignoring the essay, and falling onto the bed and into sleep, where Adrian conviently walked in and ruined my dreamless sleep.

"Haven't seen you around, little dhampir," Adrian said, a small frown on his face.

"Graduation practice," I said, not wanting to look down and see what I was wearing.

"Oh, yes, you are a senior, aren't you?" Adrian sat down on the wood swing that suddenly appeared in the field where we were standing.

"What's with the field?" I asked, dodging the Adrian's question and changing the topics.

"You're moving to the Royal Court after this, aren't you?"

I nodded. This topic I could handle.

"Dammit. Now I have to play nice all day long with my aunt."

"Isn't she your great-aunt?"

"Doesn't matter," Adrian said, shooting daggers at me.

"Whatever," I said, and for some reason, I actually sat down next to him.

We didn't say much. It wasn't the comfortable silences Dimitri and I had, but it wasn't awkward or made you feel like you had to say something to break the tension. We made small talk here and there, but nothing that went past a couple of exchanges.

"So you're graduating," Adrian said, making it sound more like a statement than a question.

"And?" I prompted, feeling sarcastic and annoyed now that he brought the topic up again.

He shrugged and pulled a flask form one of the pockets inside the coat he was wearing. He emptied the contents in one mouthful.

"You should probably go. Sorry if I don't see you much from now on. I'm thinking about doing some serious traveling. My aunt's got some money she's not spending any time soon. I might use that." And with a sad smile, I was back in room, fully awake, my alarm clock going wild since I hadn't shut it off yet.

"Damn those cryptic drunks," I muttered, and grabbed some clothes for the final graduation practice.

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**So you know the story, This Would Be A Reality? And how I made it a side-quel? I'm changing it. I suddenly have this new reinterest in this story, and just saying this is what they did, So-and-so died on this day, and on and on and on, etc. (It's 1.30 in the morning and I'm tired as hell.) just wouldn't feel right. So I'm taking that story down and it'll be republished when it feels right.**

**Review! (I hate filler chapters, too. Sorry!)**


	13. Chapter 13

**97 visitors and only 12 reviews? Only 12.3% of you cared to review? (At the time I'm typing this, at least.) If you like it, let me know! This is the last chapter before the sequel, which I won't make you wait a month for.**

**Usual disclaimers apply.**

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When I first learned, back in Kindergarten, about seniors and graduating and leaving St. Vlad's for good, I was already pretty close to Lissa. At the time up until she found out about Dimitri and me, I had daydreams about the two of us getting ready the night before, talking and laughing and crying, trying to get over the fact we may never see each other. When Lissa shadow-kissed me, I dropped the crying part, since I figured I'd be her guardian.

On Friday night, the night before one of the biggest, most important events, I was sitting by myself on my bed, sulking and wishing things had turned out even a little more differently. That I'd had the immaturity to tell Lissa about Dimitri had swear her to secrecy. That somehow she could have taken it more easily.

That after everything, I'd be sitting in my room, missing all of the parties the seniors were throwing.

The rest of the school still had a week left, but they knew none of the seniors would concentrate, so they pretty much let us off for two weeks. One for graduation practice (no regular classes), one for when everyone else would be sitting in class.

So yes, the great Rose Hathaway, the girl that _was _the party, was alone by herself.

It depressed me to think about myself in third person.

It depressed me about what was currently running through my head.

Exhausted from having to listen to my teachers yell at me and my classmates for the last time, my hand sore from signing yearbooks, something two Moroi girls put together on the side and gave to the entire graduating class, our teachers, and the guardians that patrolled the upper campus, and just tired from everything that had happened that school year, I went to bed early. At least I'd look like I'd gotten a good night's sleep instead of partying all night.

Going with the growing trend of change, Kirova and the staff decided to make our graduation much more human-high-school-style. Which meant gowns, caps, and ordered outfits, since they wanted a uniform look. The ordered outfits were something the academies all over the world did since, well, they could order a hundred plus outfits pretty cheaply.

So when I showed up to the meeting place all the seniors had to go before we walked into the gym, I was actually surprised at uniform we looked, but how different everyone looked at the same time. The girls had black, knee-length dresses and red gowns and caps, while the guys were forced to wear a tuxedo with black gowns and caps. The only difference was that the guys looked like war-veteran penguins instead of regular penguins. I tried not to laugh at Eddie as I walked past him to my spot halfway down the line of seniors, my cap having slid nearly off my head.

"Not funny, Rose," Eddie hissed as I bit my lower lip when I passed him.

"Is too," I shot back under my breath, and glided right past him.

My black heels were killing my feet by the time we started walking. It was slow and boring, but somehow I got through it because I found myself sitting in the folding chair I had been sitting in for the past week. I didn't have to look behind me to know that my mother was in the audience somewhere.

There were no extra-curricular awards to hand out; we didn't have after-school stuff. They did, however, hand out awards that you'd normally find in a yearbook - Best Dressed, Most Sarcastic, Most Likely To Become President, things like that.

I ended up getting two awards, making me feel like I did something that year - Most Sarcastic (with, surprise of the century, Christian) and Most Likely To Beat Someone Up, the latter getting a laugh out of my classmates as Alberta put the medal around my neck with a grim smile on her face. She was no doubt recalling the memory of when we stood in this very same spot and I threw a fit over being assigned to Christian for field experience.

Eddie got Most Likely To Succeed, which was ironic since he was our class's "valedictorian," another thing Kirova and the staff decided to add into our graduation to make it feel less old and monotonous.

Christian got Most Sarcastic and Best Social Comeback, an award that somebody created for him since he had started making friends with people outside our little circle. Sure, it was only one or two people, but it was enough for everyone to notice.

Lissa recieved Best Dressed, Sweetest Smile, Friendliest Personality, and Most Likely To Succeed (along side Eddie).

After everyone recieved their awards, Eddie got up to deliver his speech he had to write.

"It's only a couple sentences long," He had told me on Wednesday. "I'm not good at writing speeches, so they're going to have to deal with a minute long speech. Besides, I just want to know who my assignment is. Nobody's going to remember what I say anyway."

Looking up Eddie, his gown zipper tight at the top, one black sash running straight down either side of the zipper, he just looked ready to take on the world.

"Alright, since I know we're all dying to get out of this hot gymnasium, the students want to know who's paired up with who, and the novices want to go ahead and get their promise marks, I'm going to keep this short. Unlike that last sentence," Eddie added, and the seniors and some parents laughed politely. I snorted. Eddie trying to make jokes was funny.

"This has been an eventful year. Probably the most eventful year of my life I'll ever have, since I hope to be placed with somebody who will be living in the Royal Court or in a cabin in the middle of the woods on some island nobody has ever heard of before.

"To give you a small recap of what happened this year, we can start with the return of two runaway students, Lissa Dragomir and Rose Hathaway. I don't know about you, but I thought they were as good as dead when they took off in freshman year." Eddie looked at Lissa, and then at me.

"Optimist!" I shouted when he looked at me, and while the guardians glared at me for being a disruption even before I was graduated, I got the senior body as a whole to laugh.

"And that's why Rose is the sarcastic one," Eddie laughed. He smiled and went back to what he had planned out.

"Nothing too great happened for a while until the administration felt that one of the safest places for Moroi students to live was unsafe. So they took us to a _ski lodge_, where a group of us got ourselves kidnapped by a pack of Strigoi. Not everyone in our group made it out alive; a moment of silence for the late Mason Ashford if you will," Eddie said, and I could hear his voice fighting to stay even. After a moment, he looked back up at the audience.

"February came around and so did field experience. All went according to plan with the occasional bump in the road until the massive Strigoi attack occured. Many senior novices and a handful of Moroi fire-users helped the guardians that were called in to help in the battle, a battle that will be remembered throughout history. Could everyone give a round of applause to Rose Hathaway, who successfully convinced the adults that a rescue team was a good idea, and in turn saved seven lives," Eddie announced, and motioned for me to stand up.

Loud applause ensued. There were several cheers from the audience and more from the seniors. As I turned for a full circle so everyone could see me, I saw my mother standing up at the top of the bleachers, clapping, only the slightest bit of negativity on her face. Eddie hadn't mentioned that five guardians and one Moroi were killed that day; he had just pointed out the good. Only a small group of us would ever know what really happened.

After the applause died down, Eddie continued on.

"And since nothing could ever top that, we arrive to today, a very special day. We are adults today, guardians and Moroi alike. Every novice that you see here today will be assigned to a Moroi, since we have surprisingly even numbers between the two groups. After I step down, Guardian Petrov will announce the assignments. You were notified if your assigned guardian attended a different school than St. Vladimir's Academy. But before I go, remember that Strigoi need to be killed and that Rose Hathaway can beat you up now and not get detention for it. Peace out homies!" Eddie yelled, his ending very uncharacteristic and surprising.

I, along with the rest of my class, jumped up in cheering, those near him clapping him on the back and congratulating him fiercely. After a few minutes, we were still cheering and Alberta was up on stage still trying to get us to be quiet.

"Guardian Petrov asked for SILENCE!" Dimitri shouted, somehow being louder than all of the cheering, and getting everyone to shut up in a second. Several Moroi looked frightened by Dimitri's outburst, and I sat down quickly, knowing that would be the next thing Dimitri shouted for.

"Thank you, Guardian Belikov," Alberta said, looking down at her clipboard, at Dimitri, and then at us.

"Your assignments," Alberta started, and everyone grew deathly quiet. "Will come after you recieve your diplomas."

A somewhat audible groan came from the seniors. It was quickly shut down with one glare from Dimitri from his new post next to the podium.

Alberta went through calling everyone's names and we walked up, one by one, and recieved that little piece of paper that gave us freedom from St. Vladimir's for good. Alberta would call the person's name, hand the diploma (sitting neatly in a little book that didn't have any pages) to Dimitri, who would hand it to Kirova, who would give it to which ever senior was called up. Kirova was standing a little in front of the podium (there was a little makeshift stage that the podium and speaker stood on), so we didn't have to climb any stairs or anything.

When Alberta called my name, I walked up, only briefly looking at Dimitri. His face was composed in that way all guardians held their faces, but his eyes said that not only was he glad I was no longer his student, he was just glad I made it out of school period. I nearly laughed, but I choked it back down my throat and happily shook Kirova's hand.

"You made it," Kirova said quietly.

"Do I get detention after this?" I asked jokingly, which made Kirova smile.

"I can no longer give you detention, Miss Hathaway, since you are no longer a student," Kirova said, and let go of the diploma and my hand. Before walking back to my seat, I flashed a smile at her, turned to the audience and my classmates, and riased both hands in the air, one a fist, the other holding a diploma. I let out a loud whoop, pumped my fist in the air, and then walked back to my seat, a happy grin on my face.

When I got back to my seat, I opened up the little book and looked at the diploma. My full name was written in script, and underneath were the words that said I was done with school. Sweet, sweet freedom.

I zoned out until Alberta announced that she would be reading off the assignments.

"If you are a Royal, you will have a second guardian, who is sitting in the bleachers at this time. They will meet you after the graduated novices recieve their promise marks." Alberta cleared her throat and read aloud from the page.

"I will call out the list of Moroi names, going in alphabetical order. After a name is read, the name of your assigned guardian will be called out. If you are to recieve two guardians, the second assigned guardian's name will be read."

Alberta went about reading the assignments, and I tuned out for a little bit until she called Lissa's name. While Lissa and I may not have been extremely close at the moment, we still wanted to be assigned to each other.

"Vasilisa Dragomir. Your assigned guardians are Sofya Levitsky and Rosemarie Hathaway."

Victory! I grinned excitedly, and Lissa turned around and smiled at me, sending _You're my guardian!_ through the bond to me. I gave her a thumbs up and she turned back around.

Sofya Levitsky must have been the older guardian that had been reassigned to Lissa. It only made sense.

I tuned out, keeping an ear open for Eddie or Christian's name.

"Christian Ozera. Your assigned guardians are Jeremy Arcos and Edison Castile."

The four of us would be together after graduation, just like the field experience. Life could hardly get better.

Alberta went through the rest of the names, and I was starting to get restless. Just when Alberta finished up the assignments, she waved the applause away.

"We also have some staffing changes. Guardian Alto will be transferring to The Academy at St. Petersburg in St. Petersburg, Russia. We wish him a fairwell in his endeavor as he moves on to share his experiences and knowledge with others. Taking his place is Guardian Lior, a recent graduate from St. Josephine's Academy in Washington D.C., an all-dhampir school emphasizing on how to properly respond to Strigoi attacks, before, during, and after the attack. Guardian Lior, could you please stand?" Alberta asked, and everyone gave the woman who stood up a round of applause.

"Our other staffing change is with Guardian Belikov," Alberta said, and I could feel several pairs of eyes on me from some of the seniors. I was curious as to what the change was. Dimitri had told me he would try to get a job in the Royal Court, but he hadn't spoke of it since then.

"Guardian Belikov, along with Guardian Novosi, who was unable to attend today and is a graduate of St. Charlotta Academy in Moscow, Russia, will become the new guardian to Adrian Ivashkov, the great-nephew of Our Majesty, Queen Tatiana. Mister Ivashkov spent the past several months here at the academy for academic and research purposes. Now that those purposes have been fulfilled, he will make his way back to the Royal Court this summer, which is where Guardian Belikov and Guardian Novosi will follow him and take up their new positions. Taking his place is Guardian Stolin, a renowned and former guardian of Andrew Ozera. We are glad to have him join our guardian ranks and he is also coming to us out of retirement. Guardian Stolin, could you please stand?" Alberta asked, and a man in no later than his mid-fifties stood up. He was met wih a round of applause.

"That is all. Would the graduating senior class of 2009 please stand?" Alberta asked. Everyone who held a diploma stood up, cheering, and Alberta shouted over the crowd, "Please move into the cafeteria for the promise mark ceremony and light refreshments afterwards!"

I fished through the crowd of seniors and found Lissa. She threw her arms around my neck, obviously happy to have me as her guardian.

"I can't believe they let us be together!" She shouted. It was deafening where we were.

"You doubted them?" I shouted back, pulling back and nodded to Christian and Eddie who had found each other and then us.

"No, but still....Anyway, let's go make you a real guardian, Rose!" Lissa yelled, and grabbed Christian's hand. The four of us flowed with the crowd to the doors.

After everyone was seated in the cafeteria and the novices were lined up in alphabetical order in the first two rows, Dimitri came to the stage. Alberta was no where to be seen.

"Guardian Petrov asked me to fill in for her since she is currently dealing with some personal issues at the moment. For those of you who don't know, I am Guardian Belikov," Dimitri said, his eyes sweeping over the first two rows. "When I call your name, novices, please come up to the stage and sit on the stool. After your promise mark has been added to your neck, I will announce your new title and you may be seated back in your original seat."

I watched as Dimitri called up each novice's name and then after a few minutes, announced them as a guardian. I gave a little set of claps to Eddie when Dimitri announced him as "Guardian Castile" thus erasing the old Eddie Castile, high school novice.

"Rosemarie Hathaway," Dimitri called, and I got up on slightly shaky legs. I had already been marked - three tattoos for the Strigoi I had killed, two for the Spokane incident and one for the attack back in February - so I didn't understand my nervousness.

The tattooer smiled at me - she was a woman, dhampir as well - and she tattooed the guardian promise mark onto my neck. When she finished, she pulled away, nodded at Dimitri, and stepped back so I could stand up.

"Guardian Hathaway," Dimitri announced, and only he and I could hear the excitement in his voice. It was official. Our student-relationship was over, and we could be as public as we wanted. Or, at least, until the ceremony was over.

When it was over, I picked through the crowd and found Dimitri, who was standing off to the side of yet another make-shift stage.

"Hey you," I said, tapping his back.

"Oh," Dimitri said, turning around and snapping a cell phone shut. "Hi Rose."

"Was I interrupting something?" I asked, looking at the cell phone.

"No. I just finished with Alberta," Dimitri said. He pocketed the cell phone.

"Everything alright?" I questioned, wondering if he'd tell me what was wrong considering we were co-workers now.

"Alberta's mother is in the hospital. Nothing too severe," Dimitri said, looking at me carefully. After what seemed some deliberation, he gathered me into a tight hug.

"Congratulations, Roza," He whispered in my ear, and I swear, if Dimitri hadn't been holding me, I would have crumbled to the ground.

"Thanks," I said, and he kissed the top of my head. "You didn't tell me that you got assigned to Adrian!" I pulled away and pretended to punch him in the arm. He feined hurt and grabbed his bicep.

"I wanted it to be a surprise for you," Dimitri said, looking me straight in the eyes. I broke the eye contact and leaned into him.

"Well, Comrade, it worked," I admitted, and I laughed on the inside when I felt Dimitri stiffen a little at what I called him.

"You do realize," Dimitri murmured, his lips kissing at random places in my hair, "That if we live together, you have to stop call me that or I might just run off and join the circus."

"What?" I stood up straight, excitement boiling in my stomach.

Dimitri chuckled. "You'll learn about the new living arrangements and how the Royal Court is reworking how the Moroi are guarded when you and Lissa get there in two weeks."

"Oh yeah, after our thank-God-we're-done-with-school vacation to the Bahamas," I said. It was a trip a bunch of senior dhampirs and some senior Moroi set up as a celebration after we graduated.

"I'll miss you," Dimitri said quietly, and he pulled me up to him. Our lips crashed together fiercely and I enjoyed the moment. While I'd be in the Bahamas with a bunch of friends for two weeks unsupervised, Dimitri wasn't coming along. There were more dhampirs than Moroi going, so we were able to convince Alberta to let us do it. The Moroi that were going were paying for the trip since they had pretty much unlimited bank accounts.

"I'll miss you, too," I whispered when we pulled away.

"Your mother's coming," Dimitri said. My feet met the floor and turned to face my mother.

"Congratulations," Janine said, and in a rare act of warmth, hugged me. Surprised, I hugged her back.

"Thanks, Mom," I said. "I guess were technically co-workers now." I let out a nervous giggle. It was weird to think of my mother and I as equals when she had always been above me.

"Not the term I would use, but yes, I guess so. And I already talked with Guardian Levitsky. She seems like she'll be a good influence on you."

"Guardian Levitsky?" I asked, unsure of the last name. I was going to have to learn a lot of people's last names.

"That would be me." A woman came up behind my mother, Lissa next to her. She was about my height and had light brown hair that seemed naturally stick-straight. It fell just past her ears.

"Sofya!" Dimitri said, and moved to hug her.

"Dimitri!" Sofya said. She seemed to be mocking him, but it wasn't in a mean way.

"Keeping Kenny in business?" Dimitri asked, which caused a loud peal of laughter to come from Sofya's lips.

"Kenny wishes I kept him in business! It's actually all those fathers finally coming back because they've retired and are too old to do anything other than to sit around and complain about our human government."

"Everyone's?" Dimitri's eyes lit up a little.

"Even yours, though there's word he may only stay for a little while. Apparently he's got business elsewhere, somewhere farther down the Lena River. There were stories that he stayed in Georgia for a little while, but why the hell would he do that?" Sofya's Russian accent was much more noticeable than Dimitri's. From the sounds of their conversation, I got the impression Sofya and Dimitri grew up together.

"Markha?" Dimitri mused.

"I don't know. But we can catch up later. You must be Roza," Sofya said, looking at me and then hugging me. It was really friendly and made me like Sofya even more.

"Ya-ya," Dimitri muttered warningly but Sofya shushed him.

"Half his emails are about you. The other half are him being homesick."

Dimitri rolled his eyes.

"What? It's my responsibility to annoy the hell out of you, dear brother of mine," Sofya said lightly. She turned to Lissa and me. "Back when we were in fourth grade, everyone made up their own families, and Dimka and I ended up being siblings. Mikhail was our mother and father, remember?"

That got Dimitri to laugh heartily. "Yes, I do. We had an odd amount of girls, so one of our friends had to play the role of being the mother and the father. I remember Mikhail protested against it."

"And then we told him that the real Mikhail wouldn't have liked complainers?" Sofya said. The two of them laughed at the memory. Dimitri was right. It seemed like there was a lot of love in the communes.

"If you'll excuse me, I have some cake to eat and some people to win over. I'll talk to you ladies later," Sofya said, kissing Lissa and I on the cheek.

"It's a sign of being close to someone where we come from," Dimitri explained when Sofya left.

"You two were really close," Lissa noted. My mother muttered herself excused and left the three of us to ourselves.

"Like you and Rose," Dimitri agreed. "Except our mothers would have the two of us play together since before we could walk. They shared a business, so it was Sofya, my sisters, and then me." He chuckled.

"We'll see you later, then," Lissa said, grabbing my elbow. She started to lead me away.

"I'll talk to you later," I told Dimitri as Lissa led me away to the cake table.

"Sofya's really awesome. She'll be sitting in for some of our classes when we go in the fall," Lissa explained when she came back with cake for both of us.

"When we go?" I asked, unsure of this whole thing.

"Yeah," Lissa said, eating a bite of cake. "Tatiana said you can go with me. Of course, you have to take the same classes, but you still get a free college education."

"I thought my torture was over," I whined in between mouthfuls.

"Don't worry. I've heard college is nothing like high school. People like you actually like school after it," Lissa explained.

"Me? Liking school?" I asked in disbelief. "That's insanity."

"There's much more freedom in college than in high school," Lissa said off-hand.

"Freedom. We have that now, don't we?" I asked, finishing my cake. My diploma was tucked under my arm.

"Lots and lots of it," Lissa said. We walked out of the cafeteria and towards the quad.

"Strange, isn't it?" I mused aloud.

"What?"

"We won't be coming back here in the fall. We'll never be coming back here, unless our kids go here or something."

"We're no longer students," Lissa agreed, stopping in the middle of the quad. I stopped next to her, the both of us looking at the moon. Lissa took off her cap.

"What are you doing?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"I've seen it in movies," Lissa said as I took my cap off. Grinning, she tossed it up in the air, and I did the same. They landed in front of us, Lissa's just a little bit closer to us than mine.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"What?" Lissa put her cap back on.

"Why are you being so nice and friendly to me?" I was interested in why the sudden change in her.

"It's our graduation day. Tomorrow, I go back to my hot and cold feelings towards you. But I'm starting to wrap my head around the idea of you and Dimitri. I might even accpet it one day. I have to; you and Dimitri make each other happy. Really, genuinely happy. So much that it makes me jealous sometimes." Lissa sat down on one of the benches near us.

"You? Jealous of me?" Disbelief rang clear in my voice.

Lissa nodded. "Only sometimes. But then I remind myself that I have Christian and he makes me feel the same way. We all end up one big happy family. Pun intended."

"Nice," I laughed. I sat down next to her, my feelings turning serious. "Do you think Dimitri and I will get married?"

"If you don't, you can always be godparents," Lissa said, putting an arm around my shoulders. I rested my head on one of hers.

"Thanks," I said quietly. "It feels good to be done with this place, doesn't it?"

"Very," Lissa said, equally as quiet, "Very good."

* * *

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